Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge - Essay Example

Academia Research December 2009 Rosanne Dingli Wind Beneath His Wings: Pierre Bergé, substantial contributor to Yves St Laurent’s success ShouldPierre Bergé have had a share in the Lifetime Achievement award received by Yves St Laurent in 1999 from the Council of Fashion Designers of America? Without a doubt, and with plenty of documented evidence, Pierre Bergé provided a wealth of influence to his companion St Laurent. A partner in life and business, Bergé’s presence in the world-renowned design-luminary’s life and dealings meant the difference between success and overwhelming triumph. Who was Pierre Bergé, and how did he come to meet St Laurent? For one with the tag of unsung hero, there is an inordinate amount of material available on this apparently silent figure behind the genius. Bergé went so far as to pen his own account of the meteoric ascent from a mere inclusion in Dior’s stable to worldwide fashion phenomenon that was Yves St Laurent. (Bergé 2008) In this account, he tells of his presence at St Laurent’s 1962 debut in Paris, writing an homage to the designer’s artistry. He understates his contribution, yet it is fully there: a subtle acknowledgment of the innumerable benefits that come from a long and stable association. A salute to the standing ovations that were to become part and parcel of these men’s careers. Bergé was born into a middle class family where education and achievement were rewarded. His father was a sporting enthusiast on weekends, but an ordinary public servant who fulfilled ordinary tasks in the French tax office from Monday to Friday. His love of music definitely came from his mother, an amateur soprano, who understood the finer points of education and bequeathed her elegance and philosophies to her son. He went to Paris after his secondary education, probably without an inkling of what his future would bring. From the very beginning, Bergé had the fortune (or otherwise) and later knack, of being a fortuitous participant in significant events. On the very day he reached Paris in 1955, and was talking a walk along the Champs Elysées, the famous poet Jacques Prevert stumbled into him as he was trying to take his own life. This incident should have warned Bergé of the future that was to place him significantly close to other major events and achievements not strictly his own. (UNESCO portal 2008) In 1958, Bergé met Yves St Laurent. It was inevitable that the fashion ambience would have thrown them together. Paris has always been the kind of place that attracts the right kind of people to itself, and then of course to each other. The fashion world has been described in magazines, books, movies and documentaries as a small shiny world in which everyone knows everybody else. From the seats that run along the length of a catwalk, from the après-show parties and the crowded press meetings, to the red carpet welcomes that precede premieres, the same faces are to be seen over and over again. (Madsen 1979) From the distance of the intervening years, it might be possible for aficionados to picture the meeting between the two gifted designers. The notoriously shy older man possibly saw in St Laurent all the aspects of personality he could not express himself. (Murphy, 2009) St Laurent went on to create collections that have not only amazed the pundits when they were launched, but whose evidence and style remain in fashion even today, and whose rationales and signatures are studied by design students worldwide. All the while, Bergé was at his side: his business acumen, his understanding of the corporate and commercial worlds, and his vast knowledge of culture were irreplaceable and without peer. The connections he enjoyed with powerful business associates, members of the elite musical world, diplomatic and political spheres and publishing meant he was listened to at crucial times. Timing is everything in the highly competitive world of fashion. (Drake 2006) Through the years, the two men, who became lovers and enjoyed a reasonably long and stable relationship, shared eight sumptuous homes together. One has only to look at photographs of the various rooms to understand the link between eccentricity and fabulous design, between extraordinary originality and untrammelled success. Between the desire to see and be seen and the determination to accumulate wealth. Inside the young Bergé who walked the streets of Paris in those early days, resided the man who was to share some of life’s most important aspects closely with another. A very famous other. He probably did not yet understand the ingredients of success, but must have understood his own necessity: to find someone with brilliance, through whom to express his own. Bergé’s own love of literature, music and the arts led him to explore avenues within the theatre and publishing. He understood culture, and would eventually be a leading light in French theatre production. He is responsible for saving the intellectual rights of Jean Cocteau, and has produced a number of theatrical shows and concerts. His name is not linked singularly to the fashion world. (UNESCO, Wikipedia) Although indubitably sparkling in his own right, St Laurent became the vehicle on which the two men propelled themselves through the fashion world. It was Bergé’s choice that they launched their company with the name Yves St Laurent Couture House. Perhaps the name rang romantically in his head and heart at the time. It was 1961, and both men would never look back. Although their personal and intimate relationship eventually ended in 1979, their business association endured, and Bergé’s business acumen ensured the fame and wealth that was to accompany them from then on. Bergé remained the CEO of the company until it closed in 2002. (Cole 2002) The mark of Bergé’s excellent business and artistic decisions is in evidence all over Paris, if not the rest of Europe.(UNESCO Biographies 2005) His long expert patronage of the opera world and close association with President Mitterand meant that Bergé was appointed president of Opera Bastille in 1988. The St Laurent/Bergé association succeeded because both men had ample talent to donate to the partnership, and both accepted the fact St Laurent’s name would be the best banner for it. Theirs is by no means a unique phenomenon: Italian agent Carlo D’Amario is acknowledged as being the fulcrum upon which the success of Vivienne Westwood, British subversive designer par excellence, is balanced. In 1984 Westwood moved briefly to Italy with her new business partner, Carlo DAmario (today Managing Director of her company) and most of her ready-to-wear is still produced there today.(Wilcox 2004) The Balmain/Mortensen relationship could not have been without effect on those two designers’ work (Balmain 1965), and the effect of Baron de Gunzberg’s patronage on the work of Bill Blass is also a worthy topic for debate. Genius is rarely a genie that comes out of a single bottle. Although names and celebrities are born and seem to rise to the top powered by a single name, there is in most cases a fruitful partnership or at the very least a team, not necessarily always composed of the same members, who carry the ‘marque’ along. So it is debatably the signature name of the celebrity that titles the trade mark: a signature name that brings immediately to mind a press image that visually completes the picture: Yves St Laurent’s conjures the carefully coiffed blonde hair and ever-present glasses. Bill Blass’s grey side-burns and Marlboro-man style comes to mind. And who can forget the ponytail and large glasses of the immediately imaginable Karl Lagerfeld? Lagerfeld, the main man behind the Chanel label for many decades, is the embodiment of what it means to be the significant name behind a label that bears another’s name. His work for Fendi is legendary, yet his own inimitable style made him much more of a household name than Bergé - who lives still and who many do not know personifies the YSL tag. More than simply unsung heroes, designers and patrons, lovers, protectors and business partners with amazing acumen such as Bergé prefer to allow another to occupy the limelight. It is a deliberately engineered ploy that squarely lets another endure the fickle demanding attention of the bright and sparkling design world. It is attention that is by no means always laudatory: it can bring a designer down as rapidly and meteorically as it raises them. The overnight success that seems to be the case from without is usually a hard-thought, cleverly engineered project that can very well leave the label name injured and hurting for months. Few readers are unaware of the rewards and punishments meted out to celebrities. It is a hard glittering world that exacts pounds of flesh daily, in both the metaphorical and practical senses. To sustain equilibrium in such an environment requires a strong team or partnership: a singular personality can never do it alone. The success evidenced in the life of Yves St Laurent could never have happened without Bergé: they both knew it because they understood the fashion design world through and through.(Madsen 1979) Bergé was highly protective of the reputation and business aspects of the St Laurent Couture House. He understood the financial and publicity sides extremely well. He was as protective of them as he is of his own privacy, which leads an observer to think he understands himself - and the limits of his personality - very well. So he has designed limits, barriers and screens around himself that align him with those he is comfortable with, the pursuits he has grown to love and the undertakings that can take place outside the glaring limelight of the paparazzi of Europe. The world’s press is more interested in next season’s fashion releases and shows than it is of the behind-the-scenes issues of an opera production. And yet Bergé is proving to be just as much a mover and shaker in cultural arenas as he ever was when leading the House of St Laurent. (Murphy 2009) The relationship that started in the late 1950s, between Yves St Laurent and Pierre Bergé, did not end in 1979, when they decided to live apart and end their long romantic association. Since Bergé stayed on as director of the couturier’s house of fashion, success was maintained and the business side never flagged. Competition was understood very well in that company: from back at the very beginning when Yves St Laurent won a competition for the design of a coat, just ahead of Karl Lagerfeld in 1955. Far from being friendly, rivalries in the industry were sharp and furious in St Laurent’s time. Bergé must have been a levelling influence. It is hard to imagine this elegant quiet man involved in anything vulgar or loud. (Murphy 2009) He was to witness many firsts that his partner accomplished, including the very first internet live couture show in 1996. Yves St Laurent was 71 when he died in 2008. His funeral was a gathering of labels: the only absence was that of Lagerfeld. It was an emotional affair, with Bergé delivering the eulogy, where he stated, ‘I remember your first collection under your name and the tears at the end. Then the years passed. Oh, how they passed quickly. The divorce was inevitable but the love never stopped.’ (Snead 2008) The lines were repeated throughout the global press and the internet. The association of these two talented men received a number of statements of praise and a bevy of awards, not least being the 1999 Lifetime Achievement award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America. Bergé deservedly shared in all these confirmations of success, and there is no doubt the world perceives his contribution to their granting. Works cited Bergé Pierre (2008) Yves St Laurent, Memoirs Assouline Publishing Balmain, Pierre 91965) My Years and Seasons Doubleday Cole, Shaun (2002) St Laurent, Yves Drake, Alicia (2006) The Beautiful Fall: Lagerfeld, St Laurent and Glorious Excess in 1970s Paris Little, Brown and Co Madsen, Axel (1979) The Yves St Laurent Story Delacorte Murphy Robert (2009) The Private World of Yves St Laurent and Pierre Bergé Vendome Press Rowold Kathleen(2002) Bill Blass, an American Designer Harry N Abrams Snead, Elizabeth (2008) Pierre Berge bids a tearful adieu to designer Yves Saint Laurent Los Angeles Times ......................... Wilcox, Claire Vivienne Westwood- 34 years in fashion UNESCO Portal: Celebrity biographies Wikipedia Pierre Bergé Read More