The Yves Saint Laurent Revolution: The Story of 'Le Smoking'

The story of an outfit, a designer, his muse, and what the three of them created together: contemporary style.

Paris, 1966. In the tranquility of his studio on Avenue Marceau, Yves Saint Laurent is conducting research for his next collection. From his drawings a female figure emerges... in a tuxedo! 'Le Smoking' is born.

New York, 1967. Yves Saint Laurent steps out for lunch on the Upper East Side with his lifelong muse Betty Catroux. They are denied a table at every restaurant... because Betty is wearing Le Smoking. A woman in trousers? Unacceptable!

This chic graphic novel tells the story of Yves Saint Laurent and Betty Catroux's journey with Le Smoking. Through encounters with such timeless figures from fashion and art as Coco Chanel, Christian Dior and Andy Warhol, we discover the studio secrets of the making of Le Smoking and learn how this iconic piece anticipated and contributed to second-wave feminism in the late 1960s.

Review

'Both a digestible and beautifully ornamental run-down of the brand’s most iconic piece and its place in the discourse of second-wave feminism. Brains and beauty – and the perfect accessory to the other, uber-cultivated coffee table books you’ve been curating to match your sophisticated New Year’s persona. Except you’ll actually want to read this one' - Hunger Magazine

About the Author

Loo Hui Phang is a comics writer, playwright and film director. She is the co-author of Panorama and Prestige de l’uniforme. Born in Laos, she grew up in Normandy, France. Benjamin Bachelier is a comic book illustrator and painter based in Nantes, France. In 2023, Phang and Bachelier collaborated on Oliphant, a graphic novel, set in Antarctica in 1916.