Monday Mini: Yves Saint Laurent’s Inspired Living
The Majorelle blue Villa Oasis in Marrakech.
Morocco: Take Two
In my most recent blog post, I dove into the wonderful world of Moroccan craft culture. Every mosaic, pottery piece, and rug I came across seemed to hold its own story, sparking ideas and generating design dreams. In Morocco, I felt like there was endless inspiration for me as a designer, and I certainly wasn’t the only designer to feel that way! Throughout history, scores of designers have been drawn to Morocco to seek creative energy and motivation—some liked it so much, they bought a house and stayed!
Living The Life in Marrakech
Fashion designer Yves St Laurent (YSL) is one of those designers. He bought the Marrakech home and garden of colorist Jacques Majorelle in 1980, saving it from being torn down by hotel developers. Jacques was a color revolutionary in the early 20th century known for his inventive, vibrant colors. Villa Majorelle was his color laboratory while its garden was his passion.
Majorelle took his lifelong love of plants to create the garden where he strategically placed specific plants for the effects of light and shadow they created.
“This garden is a momentous task, to which I give myself entirely. It will take my last years from me and I will fall, exhausted, under its branches, after having given it all my love.”
The distinctive blue paint seen throughout the property is known as Majorelle blue, which Jacques created in 1937 when he took inspiration from a 15th century recipe that incorporated crushed lapis lazuli stones.
The vibrant, almost fluorescent “Majorelle Blue,” is the trademark of the Jardin Majorelle.
Blue vases and accents were seen throughout the garden.
“So intense is the African blue sky in the distant Atlas Mountains that Jacques Majorelle voraciously painted with the ultramarine cobalt blue that is forever associated with this garden masterpiece that seduced one of the world’s greatest couturiers”
Villa Majorelle’s second chapter
When YSL purchased the home, it was in utter disrepair. Through the same care and attention to detail, he always gave to his creations, YSL revived the home and gardens to its former glory (perhaps even elevating it?), transforming it from a laboratory for color into a laboratory for design. Follow this link for a great article about the details of the interiors of the villa.
The villa was designed in a combination of the Cubist and Art Deco(!) styles by architect, Paul Sinoir. YSL rechristened the home as Villa Oasis, perhaps because it felt like a little sliver of paradise amid the bustling Marrakech! The home itself isn’t open to the public for tours, however it was for sale when we were there!
“For many years, the Jardin Majorelle has provided me with an endless source of inspiration, and I have often dreamt of its unique colors.”
While in Marrakech, Ernie and I were lucky enough to visit the Majorelle garden, the YSL museum, and the Pierre Berge Museum which is a collector’s dream with beautiful displays of the collections of Pierre Berge and YSL displaying their extensive personal collection of Berber cultural artifacts.
The exterior entry to the museum off of the Jardin was so intense, I felt like I needed sunglasses to look at it!
After the garden museum we visited the adjoining YSL Museum and, in an interesting “six degrees of separation” moment, on exhibit there were the works of fellow Virginian, Cy Twombly! In 1952, Twombly received a grant from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts which enabled him to travel to North Africa.
VMFA and Morocco: It’s a Small, Small World!
Just as the surrounding Moroccan culture was evident in YSL’s home, so too did it appear in his styles. In 2017 I saw the YSL fashion exhibit here in Richmond, Virginia. I loved the designs for their playfulness and innovation; now, with my knowledge of Moroccan art culture, I can look back on my photos of that exhibit and spot where YSL’s inspiration was pulled from. My appreciation for these beautiful clothes has grown even deeper! The playful mix of YSL’s new takes on traditional silhouettes feels like the perfect homage to Morocco, where old and new coexist together.
This orange frock, with its tiered layers of fabric, reminds me of tassels hanging from pierced metal lanterns .
The rich colors & draping of the green skirt, the tasseled belt, and the silky turban invokes traditional Moroccan clothing
The traditional silhouette of the Moroccan wide-legged pants, with gathering at the ankle, meet the ultra mod colors of the 1970s!
I took the two photos below because I loved how YSL captured such life and personality in his designs. This coat in particular got me thinking, ‘What came first: the coat or the cartoon?!’
The use of fabric samples for a fashion designer is strikingly similar to how we interior designers begin to dream up the details in a custom upholstery piece. I love seeing the overlap between art forms and finding inspiration from fellow artists!
Barbie: A True Fashionista
While not strictly Moroccan-inspired, this dress was a favorite of mine in the 2017 VMFA exhibit. It would be the perfect dress to wear to the Barbie movie premiere! Unbeknownst to me, Yves St. Laurent, in collaboration with 50 other French designers recreated their designs “tres-petite-sized” for Barbie! His “YSL retrospective en precis” re-sized 16 of his designs, and this masterpiece was one of them!
In Conclusion
I often think that inspired design comes from living in inspired spaces; if we behold beauty in our everyday surroundings, we’re more likely to do and create beautiful things.
Close to home or traveling abroad, I find inspiration in all forms, and for Yves Saint Laurent, that was certainly true, too; he and his partner, Pierre Bergé, saw Morocco as an oasis where they could recharge and find inspiration for beautiful living. Having been lucky enough to visit Morocco, I agree!
If you’d like to create your own home oasis, let’s connect!
À bientôt!
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