# Mondrian Collection
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{{Short description|1965 fashion collection by Yves Saint Laurent}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
thumb|300px|Mondrian dresses by Yves St Laurent (1966)
'''The Mondrian Collection''' was designed by French fashion designer [Yves Saint Laurent](/source/Yves_Saint_Laurent_(designer)) (1936–2008) in 1965.[Hohé 2011] This collection was a homage to the work of several modernistic artists.[ Part of this collection were six cocktail dresses that were inspired by the paintings of [Piet Mondrian](/source/Piet_Mondrian) (1872–1944).][ Because these six shift dresses][{{cite web |title=Dress, fall/winter 1965-66, Yves Saint Laurent |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/83442 |website=The Met Collection |quote=As the sack dress evolved in the 1960s into a modified form, the shift, Saint Laurent realized that the dress's planarity was an ideal field for color blocks.}}] played a major role in this collection, the collection is called the Mondrian Collection.[ In academic literature it has been questioned whether this name fully covers the aim of the collection, since there are other artists who inspired Saint Laurent such as [Poliakoff](/source/Serge_Poliakoff) and [Malevich](/source/Kazimir_Malevich).][ However, Mondrian seemed to play a leading role in this collection. The dresses were famously accessorized with low-heeled, black pumps with large, geometric-looking metallic buckles across the vamp, produced by [Roger Vivier](/source/Roger_Vivier).][{{cite web |title=Homage to Piet Mondrian |url=https://museeyslparis.com/en/biography/lhommage-a-piet-mondrian |website=[Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris](/source/Mus%C3%A9e_Yves_Saint_Laurent_Paris) |access-date=2022-01-11 |quote=For this collection, Saint Laurent sketched a series of shoes that were made by the designer Roger Vivier: black pumps decorated with a large square buckle in gold or silver metal.}}]
==Design and construction==
[[File:Mondrian-2017-04-22-2.jpg|thumb|150px|1965 Mondrian dress by Saint Laurent, [Rijksmuseum](/source/Rijksmuseum)]]
The six wool [jersey](/source/Jersey_(fabric)) and silk [A-line](/source/A-line_(clothing)) Mondrian dresses consisted of graphic black lines and blocks of white and primary colour, directly referencing the work of Mondrian.[{{cite web|title=Couture: Iconic YSL creations|url=http://www.fondation-pb-ysl.net/en/Couture-376.html |website=Foundation Pierre Berge – Yves Saint Laurent|access-date=2014-10-11}}][{{cite web|last1=Cohn|first1=Hana|title=The 50 Best Artist Collaborations in Fashion: 47. Yves Saint Laurent x Piet Mondrian |url=http://uk.complex.com/style/2013/04/the-50-best-artist-collaborations-in-fashion/yves-saint-laurent-x-piet-mondrian |work=[Complex](/source/Complex_(magazine))|access-date=17 April 2015|date=4 April 2013}}][{{cite web |title=Cocktail dress, "The Mondrian collection," Yves Saint Laurent, 1965 |url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O75489/the-mondrian-collection-cocktail-dress-yves-saint-laurent/|publisher=[Victoria and Albert Museum](/source/Victoria_and_Albert_Museum) |access-date=2014-10-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141020002253/https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O75489/the-mondrian-collection-cocktail-dress-yves-saint-laurent/ |archive-date=20 October 2014}}] Rather than being printed, the dresses were made of pre-dyed fabrics, each colour in their design being an individual piece of fabric.[ Assisted by [Azzedine Alaïa](/source/Azzedine_Ala%C3%AFa),][{{cite web |title=Azzedine Alaïa Chronology: 1964-66 |url=https://fondationazzedinealaia.org/en/chronologie/ |website=Fondation Azzedine Alaïa |access-date=2025-01-02 |location=Paris, France |quote=In 1965,...[a] seamstress...asks [Azzedine Alaïa] to make pieces for Yves Saint Laurent. He will create the prototype of the emblematic Mondrian dress as well as a number of Mondrian dresses that he personally delivers to Yves Saint Laurent at rue Spontini.}}] Saint Laurent experimented with the interplay of lines by integrating them into the seams of the garment and giving a seemingly seam-free construction.[{{harvnb|Hohé|2011|p=138}}] The weight of the fabrics used ensured that the dresses hung straight, without draping or movement to distort the simplicity of the effect—features that enhanced the [Modernism](/source/Modernism) theme of the designs.[ In interviews Saint Laurent acknowledged that Mondrian inspired him to focus on simple dresses with minimal decoration.][{{harvnb|Bergé|2008|p=21}}] Although the overall effect appeared simple, the technique was complex and required precision cutting and work-intensive haute couture techniques to achieve successfully, making the dresses expensive.[
===Precedents===
Although Saint Laurent's Mondrian dresses were very successful, it was noted that several other designers had produced very similar works beforehand. In 1965, a New York reporter noted that the Mondrian dresses closely resembled two-colour jersey dresses that had already been produced and widely retailed by the French designer [Michèle Rosier](/source/Mich%C3%A8le_Rosier).][{{cite news|title=Parisienne Pioneers Pop Style|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19650914&id=a6UtAAAAIBAJ&sjid=h58FAAAAIBAJ&pg=3657,2686306 |access-date=4 June 2014|newspaper=[The Montreal Gazette](/source/The_Montreal_Gazette) |date=14 September 1965}}] ''[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)'' claimed that the effect of the Mondrian dresses had been achieved two years previously by the American designer [John Kloss](/source/John_Kloss).[{{cite web|title=Dress, John Kloss, about 1966|url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/users/node/6741|publisher=Victoria and Albert Museum|access-date=17 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150417191721/http://www.vam.ac.uk/users/node/6741|archive-date=17 April 2015}}]
==Convergence of fashion and art==
The convergence of fashion and art in the Mondrian dresses is significant.[{{harvnb|Kim|1998|p=55}}] Whilst reflecting the fashionable Western silhouette, the designs also reflect the significance of the work of artists like Mondrian during the 1960s.[{{cite web|title=Mondriaanjurk, Yves Saint Laurent, Abraham, Bianchini-Férier, 1965|url=https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/collectie/BK-2011-58 |website=Rijksmuseum |access-date=2014-10-11 |language=nl}}] The abstract, geometric visual language of the modernistic Dutch movement ''[De Stijl](/source/De_Stijl)'' to which Mondrian belonged was applied to the design of the six dresses.[
Saint Laurent was known for his love of fine art,][ and had an extensive collection covering a wide range of periods and styles which had important influence on his work.][ He said of Mondrian: ‘Mondrian is purity and one can go no further in purity in painting. This is a purity that joins with that of the Bauhaus. The masterpiece of the twentieth century is a Mondrian’.][{{harvnb|Bergé|2008|p=168}}] The dresses have been described as a canvas on which Saint Laurent experimented with his artistic ideas,[{{harvnb|Kim|1998|p=57}}] and have become regarded as having captured the [Zeitgest](/source/Zeitgest) of their era.[ As icons of 1965 fashion the dresses have been described as giving a new perspective on haute couture—namely that it didn't have to consist of a total look any more, and that it could be easy to wear.][
==Popularity==
The Mondrian collection was widely published in many fashion magazines, with one dress featuring on the cover of ''[Vogue](/source/Vogue_(magazine))'' in 1965.][{{cite book|title=Mode & Kunst|date=2011|publisher=Wbooks|location=Zwolle|page=142}}] Mondrian style dresses became very popular, with many mass manufacturers producing copies of the designs for lower prices, which were then widely circulated.[{{cite journal |last1=Nemy |first1=Enid |title=Everybody, Almost, is in the Mondrian Race |journal=The New York Times |date=1965-08-20 |page=32 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1965/08/20/archives/everybody-almost-is-in-the-mondrian-race.html?searchResultPosition=23 |access-date=2024-09-16}}] The copying was so widespread that Saint Laurent became a little disenchanted with this collection during the peak of its success, saying at one point, "I hate Mondrian now."[{{cite journal |last1=Taylor |first1=Angela |title='I Hate Mondrian Now,' St. Laurent Says |journal=The New York Times |date=1965-11-12 |page=53 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1965/11/12/archives/i-hate-mondrian-now-st-laurent-says.html |quote='I hate Mondrian now,' he said....[He] has seen numberless cheap copies of his famous Mondrian-inspired dresses...[I]t is a love-hate relationship.}}]
In 2018, the American company Mattel, manufacturer of the Barbie doll, and the Yves Saint Laurent Museum created a joint mini-collection of dolls dressed in replicas of famous outfits designed by the French couturier: the “Mondrian” dress, the 1968 “Safari” jacket, and the 1983 “Paris” evening gown.[{{Cite web |title=Куклы Барби одели в наряды от Saint Laurent - LeMonade |url=https://lemonade.style/kukly-barbi-odeli-v-narjady-ot-saint-laurent/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220114856/https://lemonade.style/kukly-barbi-odeli-v-narjady-ot-saint-laurent/ |archive-date=2019-12-20 |access-date=2026-04-02 |website=lemonade.style |language=ru-RU}}]
==In museums==
The original Mondrian dresses can be found in several museums around the world, including the [Rijksmuseum](/source/Rijksmuseum) in Amsterdam,[ the [Victoria and Albert Museum](/source/Victoria_and_Albert_Museum) in London,][ and the [Metropolitan Museum of Art](/source/Metropolitan_Museum_of_Art) in New York.]