Yves St. Laurent Exhibit : Soviets Feast on Tour of Haute Couture
A retrospective of 28 years of Yves St. Laurent fashions has Soviet women standing in line for hours to see what, in some cases, was worn in Western countries long ago and already discarded.
Among those touring--and putting her seal of approval on--the six-week exhibit was the Kremlin’s first lady, Raisa Gorbachev.
The shimmering fashions elicited awed silence from some, squeals of delight from others, and uncensored disapproval from still others. At least one woman charged that St. Laurent had stolen his ideas from a turn-of-the-century Russian artist.
Many of those crowding Moscow’s Central Artists hall for the opening dubbed the costumes “artistic creations” rather than wearing apparel. Raisa Gorbachev, however, called them “marvelous,” “timeless” works that any woman could wear.
The Talk of Moscow
Indeed, the wife of Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev was responsible for bringing the display to Moscow.
At a sneak preview for the city’s elite, St. Laurent showed bell-bottoms and gaucho pants, ‘60s pop-art minis, a white organza wedding dress that floated like a cotton candy cloud, a turquoise crocodile jacket and a skimpy Roaring Twenties-style evening dress made entirely of brown feathers.
The exhibit already has been shown in Paris, New York and Peking and became the talk of Moscow almost overnight.
About 450 Soviets waited in frigid temperatures outside the contemporary concrete building on opening day. Tickets sold out for most of the exhibit before it opened and were even hotter after the nightly television news devoted several minutes of prime time to Raisa Gorbachev and the designer.
Oohs and Aahs
The exhibit also will be shown in Leningrad before it leaves March 14. Soviets from all walks of life emited “oohs” and “aahs,” giggled and snorted as they laid eyes for the first time on three decades of haute couture they had missed.
“It’s wonderful, a fantasy, to think that we are seeing this,” gushed a stringy-haired young agriculture student draped in rust-colored corduroy. She made hasty sketches of her favorites, she said, to ensure “that I will never forget.”
Many design students made professional renderings to work out back in the shop, and one mother in a two-piece gray suit sketched outfit after outfit for her daughter. “Oh that one is wonderful,” the daughter cried, pointing to a simple, green gabardine pantsuit. “Don’t bother sketching it, though, mother. It won’t work in my size.”
A willowy blonde, however, summed up the other problem St. Laurent fashions present to Soviets. “I would love several of them,” the 17-year-old said wistfully. “But the price. . . . “
‘Just Poor Taste’
Not all were awed, however. “No, that doesn’t work,” one elderly woman said, dismissing an elegant brocade wedding dress adorned with buttons up the bodice.
“This is awful, it’s just poor taste and so uncultured,” announced a middle-aged woman on viewing an evening dress with realistically molded gold breasts.
Crowd pleasers were a collection of silk and sable creation styled after Russian ball gowns and a decade-old winter collection based on Russian peasants’ clothes.
St. Laurent told a news conference that he had long nourished a “dream to visit Russia and perhaps to leave a little mark of my own behind.” He evaded questions, however, on whether he entertained plans to add Moscow to his 180 retail stores worldwide.
“We came here to show our works of the past 28 years without thinking about whether or not there is a market,” he said.
