Yves Saint Laurent

Yves Saint Laurent began under the watchful eye of another designer who symbolizes luxury, style and couture: Christian Dior. Saint Laurent-born Yves Henri Donat Matthieu-Saint-Laurent was born in 1936 in Oran, Algeria. At the age of 18, he moved to Paris to study at the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture, a school that also trained Valentino and Karl Lagerfeld. Shortly after his arrival, he was introduced to Christian Dior by the editor-in-chief of French Vogue, Michel de Brunoff. Recruited by the haute couture brand, he became its artistic director when Christian Dior died in 1957. He was only 21 years old at the time.