1964 : André Courrèges unveils his Space Age collection and is hailed as the new couture star. Saint Laurent puts out two relatively conservative collections, which provoke negative reviews.
Catherine Deneuve once said of her friend Yves Saint Laurent that he "designs for women who lead double lives." Indeed, the themes of contrast and duality were pervasive in the late designer's legendary body of work: Saint Laurent was the first to bring gritty streetwear (leather jackets, for instance) into the somber and magisterial couture salon. He appropriated men's tuxedos and fedoras and put them on women. He glorified proletarian garments (the pea coat and the peasant blouse) in luxurious fabrics. And he debuted African and Asian models on what had been predominantly white runways. In constantly playing double Dutch with his divergent instincts, he created a new fashion template for the ultra-posh woman with a subversive streak.