ARMORED AMORE
Lisa modeling an evening gown made in collaboration with Claude Lalanne • Autumn / Winter 1969 Haute Couture Collection • Yves Saint Laurent • July 1969 • Paris • Image courtesy of Alexis Witzig via Musée Yves Saint Laurent, Paris
How Yves Saint Laurent’s enchanting collaboration with Claude Lalanne for his Autumn / Winter 1969 Haute Couture Collection led to a pair of diaphanous chiffon gowns adorned with metallic casts of his models immaculate physiques, magically evoking the idealized sculptural muscle cuirasses of Ancient Greece...
Bronze Cuirass • 4th Century B.C. • Classical Period • Greek • Image courtesy of Sotheby’s
“For Saint Laurent, the presence of Claude Lalanne was an invitation to immerse himself in a world which had been familiar since his teens: that of Jean Cocteau's La Belle et la Bête... Lalanne and Yves Saint Laurent went on to collaborate on the collection for which the artist made body casts of fashion model Verushka that were used on two dresses, one in Mediterranean blue, the other in black. Verushka's figure was transformed into a sylph of petrified sun and ink... The gold carapace contrasted with the diaphanous chiffon in a kind of couturier’s dream of Icarus. Saint Laurent visited the Lalanne's workshop on an old farm in Ury, and it was here he observed the creative process behind many of Claude's iconic designs, and watched the objects for his catwalk show taking place. Through electrolysis and a liquid mixture of sulfuric acid and copper sulphate, the anatomy took shape... The bust and hips were fully wrapped in a galvanic copper sculpture. “To gaze at this gold-sheathed skin is to approach the impossible border between interior and exterior, hot and cold, distance and nearness.” • Sotheby’s
Claude Lalanne and Yves Saint Laurent captured during a fitting with models Lisa and Dominique Pommier • 1969 • Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne’s Home • Ury, France • Image courtesy of Manuel Litran
In classical antiquity, the muscle cuirass, anatomical cuirass, or heroic cuirass is a type of cuirass made to fit the wearer's torso and designed to mimic an idealized male human physique. The sculptural replicating of the human body in the muscle cuirass may be inspired by the concept of heroic nudity, and the development of the muscle cuirass has been linked to the idealized portraiture of the male body in Greek Art. It first appeared in late Archaic Greece and became widespread throughout the 5th and 4th Centuries BC. Originally made from hammered bronze plates that were cast in two pieces, it was commonly depicted in Greek and Roman Art, where it was worn by generals, emperors, and deities...
Bronze Cuirass • Middle of the 4th Century B.C. • Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Canosa di Puglia, Canosa
Catherine Deneuve modeling an Yves Saint Laurent evening gown with sculpted elements created by Claude Lalanne • Circa 1989 • Marrakech
Bronze Cuirass • 350 B.C. - 300 B.C. • Western Greek Period • The British Museum, London
Lisa modeling an Yves Saint Laurent sculptural evening gown made in collaboration with Claude Lalanne • August 23, 1969 • Manuel Litran
Dominique Pommier and Lisa in the desert wearing evening gowns with sculpted elements created by Claude Lalanne • Autumn / Winter 1969 Haute Couture Collection • Yves Saint Laurent • August 23, 1969 • Paris Match • Image courtesy of Manuel Litran via Musée Yves Saint Laurent, Paris
Bronze Anatomical Cuirass • 4th Century B.C. • Classical Period • Image courtesy of Phoenix Ancient Art
Claude Lalanne molding the model Lisa's body at the Lalannes' country home near Fontainebleau • August 23, 1969 • Paris Match • Image courtesy of Manuel Litran via Musée Yves Saint Laurent, Paris
Galvanized Copper Unique Ex-Voto • Circa 1970 • Claude Lalanne • The Lalanne Universe : Claude & François-Xavier Lalanne Collection • 2019 • Sotheby’s
Original sketch of an evening gown made in collaboration with Claude Lalanne • Autumn / Winter 1969 Haute Couture Collection • Yves Saint Laurent • Image courtesy of Musée Yves Saint Laurent, Paris
Anatomical Cuirass • 4th Century B.C. • Greek • Image courtesy of ArtAncient’s 2018 Connections exhibition at The Brussels Art Fair (BRAFA)
Yves Saint Laurent surrounded by models wearing his sculptured evening dresses at the home of Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne • 1969 • Ury, France • Image courtesy of Archives Lalanne Litran Manuel
Bronze Equestrian Cuirass • 350 B.C. - 300 B.C. • Western Greek • The British Museum, London
Lisa in the desert wearing an evening gown with sculpted elements created by Claude Lalanne • Autumn / Winter 1969 Haute Couture Collection • Yves Saint Laurent • August 23, 1969 • Manuel Litran
Detail of sculpted evening gowns made in collaboration with Claude Lalanne • Autumn / Winter 1969 Haute Couture Collection • Yves Saint Laurent • Image courtesy of Yves Saint Laurent by Yves Saint Laurent and Diana Vreeland in association with the 1983 exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
Bronze Cuirass • 5th or 4th Century B.C. • Classical Period • Etruscan • The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York CIty
Yves Saint Laurent flanked by models and the storied Moutons de Laine at the home of Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne • 1969 • Ury, France • Image courtesy of Archives Lalanne Litran Manuel via Sotheby’s
An Yves Saint Laurent evening gown with sculpted elements created by Claude Lalanne displayed at Musée Yves Saint Laurent, Paris • Image courtesy of Alexandre Guirkinger via Vogue France
Bronze Muscled Cuirass • 4th Century B.C. • Classical Greek Period • The British Museum, London
Dominique Pommier modeling an Yves Saint Laurent evening gown at the home of Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne • 1969 • Ury, France • Image courtesy of Archives Lalanne via Sotheby’s
Bronze Cuirass • 4th Century B.C. • Classical Period • Greek • The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York CIty
Dominique Pommier modeling an evening gown made in collaboration with Claude Lalanne • Autumn / Winter 1969 Haute Couture Collection • Yves Saint Laurent • July 1969 • Paris • Image courtesy of Alexis Witzig via Musée Yves Saint Laurent, Paris
Bronze Cuirass • 4th Century B.C. • Classical Period • Greek • Image courtesy of Sotheby’s
Lisa modeling an evening gown made in collaboration with Claude Lalanne • Autumn / Winter 1969 Haute Couture Collection • Yves Saint Laurent • July 1969 • Paris • Image courtesy of the Fairchild Archive via WWD
Galvanized Copper Empriente Taille & Empriente Poitrine • 1969 • Claude Lalanne • The Lalanne Universe : Claude & François-Xavier Lalanne Collection • 2019 • Sotheby’s
An Yves Saint Laurent evening gown with sculpted elements created by Claude Lalanne displayed at Musée Yves Saint Laurent, Paris • Image courtesy of Alexandre Guirkinger via Vogue France
Claude Lalanne and Yves Saint Laurent collaborating during a fitting with model Dominique Pommier • 1969 • Ury, France • Image courtesy of Jean-Philippe Lalanne via Sotheby’s
Bronze Cuirass • Late 4th Century B.C. • Early Hellenistic Period • Greek • Museum of FIne Arts, Boston
Claude Lalanne and Yves Saint Laurent captured during a fitting with models Lisa and Dominique Pommier • 1969 • Ury, France • Image courtesy of Jean-Philippe Lalanne
An Yves Saint Laurent evening gown with sculpted elements created by Claude Lalanne displayed at Musée Yves Saint Laurent, Paris
Bronze Anatomical Cuirass • Late 5th - 4th Century B.C. • Classical Period • Etruscan • The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York CIty
Lisa modeling an evening gown made in collaboration with Claude Lalanne • Autumn / Winter 1969 Haute Couture Collection • Yves Saint Laurent • July 1969 • Paris • Image courtesy of Vogue France
