When it comes to the most influential designers of the decade, Yves Saint Laurent's name will undoubtedly spring up on the page.
Although he was fired for his last collection at Dior in 1960 and briefly left the fashion industry to participate in the Algerian war, his work continued to have a profound impact at the time, becoming a symbol of transcendence.
Drawing inspiration from the left-wing Bohemian style of Paris, he cleverly integrated biker jackets and artful kaftans into his couture pieces, showing his keen eye for the intersection of fashion and culture. He foresaw the influence of culture on fashion and presciently recognized that the Haute Couture Guild was not impervious to foreign sources of inspiration.
In 1962, with the support of Pierre Berge, Saint Laurent released the first collection under his own name.
Over the next few years, he rose rapidly to become a top performer in the fashion industry. In 1965, Saint Laurent, inspired by the geometric works of Piet Mondrian, introduced the primary color contour skirt, a perfect fusion of art and fashion.
Although he is not a designer of Swing London, his work is unique in the field and has won widespread acclaim. In 1966, Saint Laurent again boldly broke through, introducing a gender-specific Le Smoking women's evening dress.
This design, which integrates traditional men's smoking wear elements into women's evening wear, not only shows Saint Laurent's redefinition of gender boundaries, but also becomes a classic in fashion history.
In 1967, he also launched a collection full of wild charm inspired by hunting. Richard Aveton's photographs of Veruschka add to the collection, showing the unique power and beauty of Saint Laurent's work. However, this is only the tip of the iceberg of Saint Laurent's legendary career.
Enter the Space Age
The future is here
Although the United States successfully landed on the moon for the first time in 1969, before that, the space age fashion trend had quietly emerged, heralding mankind's boundless vision of space exploration.
The space obsession of this era is vividly reflected in the new style movement called "Atom", and the fashion industry has also emerged with a number of trend-setting designers who have incorporated their fantasies into their designs, making fashion and space exploration interwoven.
Andre Courreges is a standout among them.
In his spring/summer 1964 "Space Age" collection, he cleverly used the sparkling aluminum foil-like silver vinyl material to give a sci-fi glamour to a series of PVC Moon Girl fashions. Not only are the fashions futuristic, they also incorporate elements such as "astronaut" hats, goggles and mid-calf boots, bringing people into a world of infinite possibilities in space.
In 1966, Pierre Cardin introduced a line of small-waisted dresses and turtlenecks that also reflected space-age fashion. These clothes have smooth lines and fit tailoring, not only showing the elegance and charm of women, but also revealing a kind of yearning and pursuit for the future.
Step into hippie culture
Bohemian fashion was all the rage
By the end of the decade, strong discontent over the Vietnam War and calls for civil rights had spawned a movement rooted in peace and love.
On university campuses, students protested against the war. In Alabama, three marches were held in 1965, known as the Selma March, to protest the blocking of voting rights for black Americans.
In 1967, thousands of hippies gathered in San Francisco's Haiti-Ashbury district to mingle with like-minded people in what became known as the Summer of Love.
- In upstate New York, the unprecedented multi-day Woodstock concert begins.
Fashion means bohemian-inspired super-long dresses, colorful flowers, loose, flowing silhouettes, and folkloric touches with Eastern European accents.
This aesthetic was undoubtedly considered a fad of the subculture, although by the mid-1970s, signs of the style were already appearing on fashion shows.
