Yves Saint Laurent to Hold UK Exhibition

19 January 2015

Pierre Bergé

Yves Saint Laurent has announced its first ever UK exhibition.

The French fashion house is bringing its 'Yves Saint Laurent: Style is Eternal' retrospective to The Bowes Museum in County Durham

The brand and the Fondation Pierre Bergé - which is helmed by the late designer's partner Pierre Bergé - has teamed up with the 19th century-built museum to put on their debut UK exhibition from July 11 to October 25.

Bergé said: "The Fondation Pierre Bergé - Yves Saint Laurent is committed to the promotion of the work of Yves Saint Laurent internationally, and as such it is extremely exciting to work on this first exhibition in the UK.

"The Bowes Museum is a natural destination given its exceptional work with fashion and textiles; the museum and its location also clearly reflects Saint Laurent's and my own passion for inspiring, timeless places. It is the perfect setting for us - a museum built as a French Chateau, in the age of the Second Empire."

The exhibition follows a time line of Yves Saint Laurent's career and studies his inspirations, as well as displaying 50 of his most iconic designs.

The Bowes' museum's fashion curator Joanna Hashagen is "thrilled" to be working with the luxury label and described the collaboration as "a great moment in the history of The Bowes Museum, as well as for fashion display in the UK".

She said: "We are honoured to host the first exhibition in the UK of Yves Saint Laurent, one of the most influential fashion designers of all time.

"We are also thrilled to work, alongside the Fondation Pierre Bergé - Yves Saint Laurent, on an innovative display that will introduce a dialogue between the designer's body of work and (the museum's) collection. This certainly is a great moment in the history of The Bowes Museum, as well as for fashion display in the UK."