Yves Saint Laurent: Fall in Love with a City and a Culture

Written on : 09 August 2019
By : Lola Fleury

Yves Saint Laurent was thirty years old when he first went to Morocco, accompanied by his lifelong lover, Pierre Bergé. He immediately fell in love with the country for its culture, its colours and its setting: he said "Marrakech, for me, is paradise".
His visits were very frequent, up to twice a year, without any weariness. His last wish was to permanently reside in the city since his ashes were deposited in the heart of the Majorelle Garden.

A look back at a love story that lasted more than 40 years until his death.

The beginnings in the city

On their first visit, the couple Saint Laurent - Bergé fell in love with the city. They say they spent 4 days without being able to leave the hotel because of the torrential rain, before being amazed by the beauty and richness of the city on the fifth day.
Some say that Marrakech reminds him of the Maghreb of his youth, since he was born and raised in Algeria.

The following year, the couple bought the Dar el-Hanch house, "the snake house" in the heart of the Medina. As the visits progressed, Saint-Laurent made a group of friends on site, all artists (photographers, interior decorators, actors, musicians...). He received, among others, Fernando Sánchez, Mick Jagger and Andy Warhol. The couturier's visits on site were more and more frequent: the city was for him an opportunity to recharge his batteries but also served as an almost infinite source of inspiration.

Marrakech: a source of inspiration for the designer

Yves Saint Laurent readily acknowledges this: the Moroccan city gives him ideas for his collections. He will even say "Marrakech has opened me to colour": indeed, he finds in the clothes of Marrakchi women shades and mixtures of colour that he then incorporates into his collections.

The height of the orientalist period of Saint Laurent took place in the 1970s: Marrakech became a real laboratory for the couturier. He visited at least twice a year, in December and June, and drew the future collections.
It is at this moment that he had the idea of several of his iconic pieces: the revisited caftan, the integration of Moroccan trimmings into his pieces and the bougainvillea cape, in reference to the Majorelle garden. The designer chose to mix colours, which was then highly criticized in the fashion world, and to reinterpret traditional Moroccan shapes in a new style.
Its collections are based on freedom and independence.

The acquisition of the Majorelle Garden and the Villa Oasis: the pinnacle of the relationship between Saint Laurent and Morocco

In 1980, the couple Saint Laurent - Bergé acquired the Jardin Majorelle created by the painter Jacques Majorelle in 1931. Left abandoned, the garden was originally intended to become a "living painting", in the words of its creator.
Saint Laurent makes the renovation of the place his mission and adds colour to the place known for its "majorelle blue": he paints flower pots in "golden shell yellow" or orange.

In addition, the lovers bought a house next to the garden, Villa Oasis. This is Jacques Majorelle's old house and it is here that Saint Laurent will take his taste for the oriental style the furthest. The decoration of the place was made of elements that he sought out in the souk of Marrakech or at his favourite antique dealer. He was first and foremost looking for artisanal and original pieces.

The Yves Saint-Laurent Museum: the tribute

After the couturier's death, his lover Pierre Bergé decided to pay tribute to him by opening two museums in his name, in two cities that had marked his life: Paris and Marrakech. The Yves Saint Laurent Museum in Marrakech opened its doors in October 2017, just one month after the death of its creator, Pierre Bergé.
Inside, an exhibition room on the work of Saint Laurent, another on the Majorelle garden, rooms dedicated to temporary exhibitions, an auditorium to host conferences and a library.
The museum is both a symbol and a testimony of Yves Saint Laurent's love for the city of Marrakech over the years.

The Yves Saint-Laurent Museum: the tribute

Marrakech is therefore, with Paris, one of the two cities that have marked the life of the couturier, both on a personal level through his encounters and friendships, and on a professional level, in his creations for his fashion house.

To discover Marrakech in the footsteps of Saint Laurent, you can rent a villa in the Medina, not far from the artist's first house or next to the Majorelle Garden, which has marked his life. Also discover the city's must-see attractions with their many secrets.