Brand Profile: Yves Saint Laurent

Today marks the tragic loss of fashion icon Yves Saint Laurent. Over the past 40 years, the French designer helped change the face of women’s fashion by introducing capes, sweaters, trousersuits and blazers'an upscale, professional look that has now become his legacy. He’s even credited with the first usage of pants in a women’s runway show.

Even if you’re not the high-fashion type, Saint Laurent’s influence is all around us: Kanye saw Vegas on acid through his glasses on “Diamonds From Sierra Leone,” and the iconic YSL logo crossed the border into streetwear when the typeface was parodied by the Chicago boutique St. Alfred. In 2002, Laurent sold the brand to Gucci, where the brand continued trailblazing women’s fashion and introduced its men’s line. After the jump, take a look the smoking-hot Kate Moss from this year’s Spring/Summer lookbook, and some of the new menswear. R.I.P. YSL.

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