Style News: Yves Saint Laurent's inspirations will be sold

Reuters Paris newspaper recently published an article stating that late fashion legend, Yves Saint Laurent, would have his private art collection, or the collection of his eclectic and exotic inspirations, put up for auction in 2009. The pieces of this style genuis' closet are estimated to be worth between 300-500 million Euros once sold to his partner's auction company in the early fall. The auction will not be calling only to his renowned apparel designs but will also feature Renaissance-inspired jewelry and some of the painted masterpieces  by artists such as Matisse and their colors, brush strokes, and materials work beautifully together in YSL's designs.

I spent the most of the month of July in  Provence and Paris, France, enjoying a history
of fashion design course. My class visited Marseilles, Versailles, the Christian Lacroix museum in Arles, and the Galerie Lafeyette. One other French fashion hotspot on my list of visited places includes the Yves Saint Laurent foundation in the heart of Paris, open only to fashion designers and fashion students interested and serious about this form of art. The other students and I were taken to a level of this house at which all kinds of fabrics were scattered across the floor and there were two older ladies sorting out seemingly simple dresses (I'm pretty sure I remember the tour guides saying that these were some of the dresses that were shipped in from American celebrities for big events and awards nights; it was all in French) next to a few sewing machines. I passed a modest looking room which looked half factory, half laundromat. Large locks were ubiquitous throughout the house and the French tour guide revealed to my eyes with a key a secret of fashion magic: one of Yves Saint Laurents original frocks from 1990. I then purchased a wonderful guide/lookbook of his original sketches and illustrations of his idyllic clothing before it came to life.

The reason I give this background                                                                

is that a designer's inspiration  before achieving the status of famous or immensely chic and should not be taken for granted. Or in this case sold.  I'm not saying this art collection should be left sitting idle and untouched for the years to come, but simply granting business to a large auction company is not the way to go. Every famous designer and his many assistants commences his or her work with something homemade, whether an idea, working environment (which I observed) or pencil sketch. A colorful dress from 18 years ago looked almost vintage to me, and I gazed for several minutes and still couldn't remotely tell if that pattern had come from a well-known painting or building or experience.

I like it better when fashion remains a mystery; when it is revealed to the public eye only sporadically. This fragment of fashion news disappointed me.