YVES SAINT LAURENT musea

If you have plans to visit Marrakech (ór Paris!) go see the wonderful Yves saint Laurent musea!!

Located on Rue Yves Saint Laurent, the museum opened last year October.

The opening coincided with the inauguration of another museum dedicated to the designer in Paris. The two museums showcase a collection made up of 5,000 articles of clothing and 15,000 haute couture accessories.

The building in Marrakech was designed by Studio KO, an architectural firm established by Olivier Marty and Karl Fournier. The outside of the building is intended to evoke the “weft and warp of fabric” while the interior is designed to evoke the lining of a couture jacket, “velvety, smooth and radiant.”

Yves Saint Laurent first visited Marrakech in 1966. The city had such a strong influence on him. In the words of Pierre Bergé, the French fashion tycoon who co-founded the fashion house and passed away last year, “It feels perfectly natural, 50 years later, to build a museum dedicated to his oeuvre, which was so inspired by this country.”

In the 70s, Saint Laurent and Berge bought a (bigger) house in Marrakech, Villa Oasis, which was connected to the Jardin Majorelle. The duo renovated the grounds and the site later became a museum. The bright blue finish of the house and the wild plants in the garden have enchanted visitors ever since. The designer’s memorial is in the grounds, and the street the house is on was renamed Rue Yves Saint Laurent in his honour.

Villa Oasis, Jardin Majorelle, Marrakech.

As well as Morocco, Mondrian was a key influence on the work of Yves Saint Laurent. These references informed the design of the museum’s logo and graphic identity, which was overseen by Philippe Apeloig, who designed the poster for the 2010 Yves Saint Laurent retrospective at the Petit Palais in Paris.

As well as displaying the collection of clothing, the museum will also displays tens of thousands of drawings and photos charting the history of the fashion house.

The museum itself, which will cover 4,000 square metres, will provide a storage space for around 4,000 pieces. The permanent exhibition space will be 400 square metres.