Double Feature
While contemporary designers put the finishing touches on their forthcoming fall 2015 collections, the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology is taking a moment look back at the 1970s, when Yves Saint Laurent and Halston ushered in a new model for women’s wear. The exhibition, “Yves Saint Laurent + Halston Fashioning the ’70s,” is flush with examples of how they acted as foils to one another, but also the ways in which their styles overlapped, as in a duo of diaphanous printed dresses. The show, which is organized by theme, also pays special attention to the converging influences that defined the ‘70s fashion, as the counterculture of the 1960s gave way to the glamorous Neo-Conservatism of the 1980s. Looks like Saint Laurent’s tailored gangster suit and Halston’s ultra-suede shirtdress seem less like relics of disco days past, than they do clothes you might want to slip into today.
Yves Saint Laurent + Halston: Fashioning the ‘70s is on view at the Museum at FIT through April 18th.
Photos: Double Feature
Halston printed knit cotton dress, c.1976, USA; and Yves Saint Laurent printed silk chiffon dress, 1971, France. Courtesy of the Museum at FIT.
Halston purple cashmere evening ensemble, c. 1973, USA. Courtesy of the Museum at FIT.
Saint Laurent Rive Gauche ensemble, 1976, France, and Halston wool ensemble, 1970-71, USA. Courtesy of the Museum at FIT.
Yves Saint Laurent evening dress, 1976, France. Courtesy of the Museum at FIT.
