The sure touch of St Laurent

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32836, 9 February 1972, Page 7

The sure touch of St Laurent

■ (N.Z.P.A. Staff Correspondent) LONDON. Yves St Laurent, the most influential designer of the 19705, kept to his decision not to let the fashion press see his spring-summer collection in Paris.

While the “specialist” magazines, “Vogue,” “Harper’s Bazaar,” “Women’s Wear Daily” and three French magazines were invited into his salon, the rest I were left champing at the bit outside, avowing policies of malignant neglect. How long this will last is anybody’s guess but already three important fashion writers have said that they might not cover St Laurent’s ready-to-wear collection in April. These were Engenia Sheppart, of the “New York C.T.D.,” Bemadine Morris, of the ! “New York Times,” and Hebe Doresy of the “International Herald Tribune,” an Englishlanguage newspaper published in Paris.

The argument behind St Laurent’s isolation policy is that newspapers distort fashion coverage by emphasising .“news” rather than fashion, i Pierre Berge, who manages 'the St Laurent house: “Most lof the press that comes to a ; couture collection comes expecting a three-armed suit or some other gimmick. The couture is not a spectacle like the Casino de Paris.

“There’s no incompatibility between doing one thing which is small and snobbish, and quite another, aimed at a broad public.”

But if ill-will was created among many fashion writers, the favoured few who did see his collection thought it a raving success. “Women’s Wear Daily” acclaim him as the Chanel of the Seventies. ELEGANCE AGAIN “Yves St Laurent is to the 70s what Coco Chanel was in her heyday.” it says. “In a 56-piece couture collection that had the buyers raving, Yves proves elegance is eternal. He takes the same subtleness and refinement that made Mademoiselle Chanel world famous, and does it with his own sure touch of today.” What he has done is revive the slim-skirted suit with long jackets, squared shoulders and hems just below the knee. He mates these with wide The Importance ot “CLASSIFIEDS" Thounnds ot people resutarly prove that CLASSIFIED AdverUlins Is an ideal Inexpensive way to convey the Who, What, Where and When. For Business and Personal advertising, the wide variety of columns in "The Press” dally assist In finding s hsppy solution. For PROMPT results, it pays to read and use—"THE PRESS” "CLASSIFIEDS."

brimmed straw hats with square crowns, pale stockings, and lots of gold bracelets. Diverging from the path other designers have taken with pants this season, St Laurent is concentrating on dresses. One which could start a trend is a simple navy or black slim dress with crisp white collar and cuffs.

He continues soft dresses with bow necklines and pleated skirts and his shirt dresses are still there. For evening he has one jacket and skirt combination that is both’ elegant yet sporty. A white linen jacket and black faille skirt are put together with a red and white striped chiffon evening blouse. Yves St Laurent predicted “discretion, simplicity and refinement” for this collection, and it seems as if he has certainly achieved it.