MONTREAL - As the world celebrates the life and work of designer Yves Saint Laurent, anyone venturing into the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts will get to see his creations first-hand.
The museum is showcasing a retrospective of the groundbreaking couturier's 40-year career in a show that will run until Sept. 28, and then move to San Francisco.
The exhibit of 148 garments and accessories that sprang from the Parisian fashion icon has an added poignancy given his death Sunday after a year-long battle with brain cancer.
"When we worked on the exhibition, we were working with a living legend," said Diane Charbonneau, one of the exhibit's curators. "Now we're working with a legacy."
The garments in the exhibit are drawn from Saint Laurent's own runway collection. He was meticulous about archiving all his examples, which are maintained by the Fondation Pierre Berge-Yves Saint Laurent and are in mint condition.
Charbonneau, who is also curator of contemporary decorative arts at the museum, says a show highlighting fashion is perfectly at home amid all the paintings and sculptures.
"We're always interested in celebrating creativity in its largest sense," she said. "I think it's just an extension of our interests in various subjects that brought us to fashion."
The show is a thematic look at Saint Laurent's creations since 1962, taking the viewer from the initial sketches of a design, through his use of colour, and showcasing garments influenced by nature and his interest in art and literature.
Saint Laurent was considered to be among the last of the great designers such as Christian Dior and Coco Chanel that put Paris on the fashion map.
"The poetry of each of his creations reflects this man's incredible sensitivity and vast cultural knowledge," said Nathalie Bondil, the museum's director, of Saint Laurent's work. "Every square inch of fabric is compelling."
Saint Laurent appropriated masculine codes of dress and created a modern wardrobe for women that took them out of their traditional roles, she said.
"This was in stark contrast to the practice of depicting women as Barbie dolls designed to sell products."
But for all the glamour in his collection, the attention paid to the needs of everyday women is also highlighted in the exhibit.
Along with the theatrical-appearing gowns with strong multicultural influences are the power suits, elegant evening wear and simple, yet eye-catching dresses and pantsuits that gave a new empowering definition to femininity.
There's also a heavy dose of fun in many of the creations, with their elaborate embroidery or floral motifs.
"He was creating for the privileged women but with his ready-to-wear, he really also designed for every woman," Charbonneau said. "I think what we can tell about Saint Laurent is that he didn't design for an ideal woman.
"He wanted to dress up all women and create happiness for all of them."
The museum is paying tribute to Saint Laurent by letting the public into the show for free on Friday, the day after the funeral.
The designer will also be honoured Wednesday in Montreal with a fashion show where Quebec designers will unveil creations inspired by Saint Laurent.
"He was an innovator," said Denis Gagnon, one of the designers who will be represented in the show, noting that Saint Laurent was the first to use black models. He said Saint Laurent set a standard to be met by all designers.
The museum will also be exhibiting the works created for the tribute show, an organizer of the fashion show said.
