Saint Laurent on Screen: Fashion Icon, Doomed Artist, or Celebrity?

Abstract

The two recent “competing” French biopics devoted to Yves Saint Laurent—Yves Saint Laurent (Lespert, 2014) and Saint Laurent (Bonello, 2014)—underscore the tensions between biographical discourse and discourse on fashion. On one hand, while the representation of a tortured genius tends to eclipse the creations of the designer, on the other hand, the importance of the relationship between Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé also attests to a historic moment in the linkages between haute couture and the fashion industry. Although these two biopics regard this moment with nostalgia, turning Saint Laurent into “the last of the greats,” they clearly inscribe their protagonists in a contemporary culture of celebrity, in which the world of fashion actively participates: something that can be observed both in the films themselves, and also in specific circumstances attending their production. Similarly, a comparison between these two films suggest the ways in which biopics about fashion designers, by celebrating what is known these days as “French-identified global brands,” serve simultaneously as a strategy to promote the label and as a strategy for finding an international audience for French cinema.