Yves Saint Laurent & Halston: Fashioning the 70s

The FIT’s “Yves Saint Laurent & Halston: Fashioning the 70s.” exhibition was impressive in many ways. The show compares two fashion designers who were very coincidental and also in the middle of the general trend in 70s. It was the first time I saw two fashion designers’ works in confrontation, so the exhibition was really fresh and I could compare two historically influential designers right in front of their pieces. Emma McClendon, an assistant curator, explained that there had not been any records of comparing two fashion designers in an exhibition, so FIT decided to juxtapose Halston with Yves Saint Laurent, iconic designers of the 1970s.

As I walked down the hallway, I saw a timeline of YSL’s and Halston’s achievements from the 1950s through 1980s, and I found out that their accomplishments in that period were very alike. Then, the first thing I saw upon entering was menswear of YSL’s Le Smoking tuxedo paired with Halston’s suede shirtdress. After seeing them, I thought they were working on the same theme. Actually, the other paired clothes also looked like they were on the same theme. Nevertheless, I could see the difference between two designers, and after seeing all those designs, I could tell which one was Halston’s and which one was YSL’s. Halston’s clothes were more visually simplistic. He made only a few draperies on clothes rather than YSL. I could not see zippers, buttons or any closures on his designs. Yet, I could not disagree with the fact that their silhouettes are similar.

It was really interesting to compare two influential designers’ past works and find their characteristics. In fact, I spent a lot of time in that exhibition. From this, I think I learned how to observe art pieces and evaluate them. Also, it was a good opportunity to broaden my perspectives.