By some fortunate coincidence our holiday in Marrakech, fell during the same week as the Musée Yves Saint Laurent in Marrakech (YSL) opened its doors to the public for the first time.
The museum is located next door to the Jardin Majorelle, the home YSL owned with his lifetime partner Bergé. Stood in the queue, we had plenty of time to admire the unusual building. The design merges aspects of YSL’s work alongside local building materials and techniques.
The exterior uses a terracotta brickwork which recalls the warp and weft of fabric and the smooth white walls of the interior are supposed to remind fashion pilgrims of the velvety lining of a couture jacket. The stained glass windows are inspired by traditional Moroccan stained glass.
The museum’s 400 square permanent exhibition displays 50 couture pieces – many which have not be shown before. Displayed against a dark backdrop, each creation stands out brilliantly – like jewelled treasures, spanning many of YSL important phases – Masculine-Feminine; Black, Africa and Morocco; Imaginary Voyages; Gardens; and Art. Here you can see the iconic Mondrian dress.
At the moment, the museum’s temporary exhibition space is painted in Majorelle Blue, a tribute to the showcase of Jacques Majorelle. Tom and I enjoyed a great lunch in the Museum’s cafe, ‘Le Studio’, decked out in its cheery yellow, takes its name from YSL’s studio at 5 Avenue Marceau, Paris.
Bergé masterminded the project and sadly, passed away on 8 September 2017, just over a month before its opening.
He said in a statement earlier this year:
“When Yves Saint Laurent first discovered Marrakech in 1966, he was so moved by the city that he immediately decided to buy a house here, and returned regularly. It feels perfectly natural, 50 years later, to build a museum dedicated to his oeuvre, which was so inspired by this country.”
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