Two new museums celebrate pioneering talent of Yves Saint Laurent

An original Yves Saint Laurent drawing for the famed Le Smoking tuxedo suit (autumn winter 1966) [Photo/fFondation Pierre Bergé–Yves Saint Laurent, Paris]

Nearly 55 years since the launch of his eponymous brand in 1961, two new Yves Saint Laurent museums are set to open. One opens on October 19 in Marrakech (appropriately enough, on Rue Yves Saint Laurent) and the other in Paris at 5 Avenue Marceau. Both will exhibit a selection from the Fondation Pierre Bergé–Yves Saint Laurent of more than 5,000 pieces of haute couture and 15,000 haute couture accessories, along with an array of sketches, drawings, photographs and other ephemera.

As befits such a vast collection, the museum in Marrakech occupies a 43,000sqft space, with a 4,300sqft permanent exhibition space designed by Christophe Martin. The building is a stone’s throw away from the Jardin Majorelle, which was bought by Saint Laurent and Bergé in 1980.

The Marrakech museum was designed by Studio KO, an architectural firm established by Olivier Marty and Karl Fournier, who have realised numerous projects in Morocco, Europe and the United States. While leafing through the couturier's archives, they were struck by curves running alongside straight lines, and by the succession of delicate and bold forms that characterised the designer’s work. The facade of the building appears as an intersection of cubes with a lace-like covering of bricks, creating patterns that recall the weft and warp of fabric. As with the lining of a couture jacket, the interior is radically different: velvety, smooth and radiant.

According to Studio KO: "The Musée Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech combines two worlds that we are very familiar with and that are dear to our hearts: fashion and Morocco. Since the founding of our architectural firm, we have worked in this country that so inspired Yves Saint Laurent. It is with great joy that we have worked on this ambitious project, and contributed to the history and prestige of the most influential fashion designer of the 20th century."