A Fashion Moment: Yves’ First Muse

Long before Lou Lou and Catherine came on the scene there was Victoire, a dark haired beauty who reminded Saint Laurent of his native Oran, in Algeria. The two met in the late 50’s at Christian Dior, where a young Yves became the house’s head designer and Victoire one its prized cabine models. They struck up a friendship that would last long after Saint Laurent left Dior.

In 1962, the French designer staged his first haute couture show and asked Victoire to be his star model. For that particular spring couture collection, Saint Laurent cloaked her in a chiffon veil, and sent her out in a lace trimmed gown that was an instant sensation. Her career as Saint Laurent’s muse was short lived however. Not long after the show, she gave up modeling to marry and start a family.

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