Janoschka magazine Linked_V4_2019

issue #4 ©
l i n k e d
15
For over fifty years, the Yves Saint Laurent house
has created a new interpretation of “Le Smoking”
on an annual basis. It is always cut from fine
“grain de poudre” – a fabric that Saint Laurent
loved – “in which women could travel”.
Featuring almost brushstroke-like outlines, it is
the soft but accentuated shoulder line that gives
“Le Smoking” its incomparable silhouette. With
its simple elegance it is the embodiment of chic.
A cut that managed to turn an era on its head.
Saint Laurent did not invent the trouser suit (Marlene
Dietrich already wore tailor-made suits in
her day), but with his daring design he made it
accessible. As the legendary couturier said at his
farewell show in 2002:
“I always wanted to put myself at the service
of women. I wanted to accompany them in the
great movement for liberation that occurred last
century.”
So what about the law forbidding women from
wearing trousers? It dates back to a very different
revolution. A decree by the Paris authorities
from the 26th Brumaire of the Revolution year
IX (i.e. from 17 November 1800) stipulated that
women “who wish to dress like men” require
permission from the police prefecture. This curious
regulation was abolished almost fifty years
after the debut of Yves Saint Laurent’s legendary
“Le Smoking”. So you could say that Parisian
women have only been able to wear trousers
with official blessing when not riding a bicycle or
a horse since 2013.
James Bond would be unimaginable without his black dinner jacket
with a white shirt and bowtie. To male icons like George Clooney,
Brad Pitt or Russell Crowe the tuxedo adds a sophisticated touch.
Its home is on the red carpet.
“If Chanel gave women their
freedom, it was Saint Laurent who
empowered them.”
Pierre Bergé, long-time friend and
partner of Yves Saint Laurent
The name “Le Smoking” nods to nineteenth-century men’s smoking
jackets, so called because their silk lapels were designed to allow
any ash falling from after-dinner cigars or cigarettes to slide off,
keeping the jacket clean.