Musée Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech Is Open Now!

Marrakech forever holds a special place in the heart of French couturier and fashion visionary, the late Yves Saint Laurent. When he first visited Morocco in 1966, the fashion designer immediately fell in love with the city and its medieval charm. 

Moreover, it also marked a new chapter to his designing career, especially in the haute couture scene: He bought a house in Marrakech and the country and its colourful yet mystical culture soon became his muse. From that on, he would travel to the city and stay there for a fortnight on 1^st of December and 1^st of June each year to design his haute couture collections.

“In Morocco, I realised that the range of colours I use was that of the zelliges, zouacs, djellabas and caftans. The boldness seen since then in mi work, I owe to this, to its forceful harmonies, to its audacious combinations, to the fervour of its creativity,” he said back in 1983. “This culture became mine, but I wasn’t satisfied with absorbing it. I took, transformed and adapted it.”

Though it has been nine years since the great couturier passed away at the age of 72, his spirit remains at large and his design aesthetics have been used as the source of inspiration to the new and booming generation of designers. Nevertheless, Saint Laurent himself would be happy to know that today, his masterpieces will be studied by this generation and the ones after it up to the next 100 years. All thanks to the establishment of the Musée Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech.

Located in a street named after the man himself – Rue Yves Saint Laurent – Marrakech is certainly the ideal city for a museum dedicated to him to be built, besides the one in Paris at 5 Avenue Marceau.

“When Yves Saint Laurent first discovered Marrakech in 1966, he was so moved by the city that he immediately decided to buy a house here, and returned regularly,” said long-time partner Pierre Bergé who passed away in September. “It feels perfectly natural, fifty years later, to build a museum dedicated to his oeuvre, which was so inspired by this country.”

The museum can be easily recognised from the YSL logo at its entrance and a façade that appears as an intersection of cubes with a lace-like covering of bricks, creating patterns that recall the weft and warp of fabric. 

Within the expansive span of over 4,000m², the museum features a 400m² permanent exhibition space showcasing Saint Laurent fashion works; a temporary exhibition space; a research library with over 6,000 volumes; a 150-seat auditorium known as the Pierre Bergé Auditorium; a bookstore and a café terrace. The museum was designed by Studio KO, an established architectural firm founded by Olivier Marty and Karl Fourier.

“The Musée Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech combines two worlds that we are very familiar with and that are dear to our hearts: Fashion and Morocco,” commented the studio founders. 

“Since the founding of our architectural firm, we have worked in this country that so inspired Yves Saint Laurent. It is with great joy that we have worked on this ambitious project and contributed in our way to the history and prestige of the most influential fashion designer of the 20^th century,” they continued. 

In the main hall where the permanent exhibition is located, 50 masterpieces have been chosen from the collection and displayed around themes that are dear to Saint Laurent – Masculine/Feminine, Black, Africa and Morocco, Imaginary Voyages, Gardens and Art – highlighted against minimal black background. The stylish voyage is created by the museum scenographer Christophe Martin and offers an original interpretation of the couturier’s work using garments that, until now, have rarely been seen by the public.

The displayed pieces will be rotated regularly to ensure their conservation and to constantly revive the exhibition. Accompanying the displayed masterpieces are immersive audio visual elements such as sketches, photographs, runway shows, films, voices and music that work as a dialogue to reveal what is behind the couturier’s creative process.  

March to the second floor, bookworms will be extremely thrilled by the exceptional collection of rare books with some dating back to the 17th century! 

Look forward to reading and consulting tomes on Morocco, the kingdom’s history, literature and arts as well as volumes on other subjects ranging from fashion right to worldwide literature.

Aspired to follow the footsteps of legendary fashion illustrator and designer Christian Bérard, Saint Laurent once expressed his intention “to be involved in several things that in reality are one: stage design and costumes; decors and sketches for the theatre.” In the theatre lobby, one can see the important works done by him for the theatre, ballet, cabaret and the cinematic sphere. They are in the forms of selected sketches, drawings and photographs of the costumes he designed for the likes of Jean Marais, Zizi Jeanmaire, Arletty, Jeanne Moreau, Isabelle Adjani and one of his closest friends, Catherine Deneueve.

Like other museums, the Musée Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech too holds a host of activities within its temporary exhibition hall and photography gallery. Currently ongoing is the inaugural exhibition by artiste Jacques Majorelle entitled "Jacques Majorelle's Morocco". 

The exhibition purveys Moroccan and international fine art lovers a chance to view 30 important works by the artiste depicting his fascination for the beautiful and authentic medina of Marrakech, the surrounding rural areas and the country’s medieval Kasbahs. These artworks have been graciously lent by private and institutional Moroccan collections.

In the Photography gallery, the inaugural exhibition by photographer André Rau entitled “Thirty Years of the Fashion House in Marrakech” offers a profound perspective on Yves Saint Laurent and his muse, French silver screen goddess Catherine Deneuve in a harmonious setting. The photos were shot in places that were dear to him such as Jemaa el Fna Square and the interior of his home, the Villa Oasis. These photos have been featured in the French edition of Elle Magazine back in 1992.

 “One day while shooting, Yves Saint Laurent spoke to me of his love for Marrakech, of the colours and light found there, and its art of living. He also spoke passionately about the Jardin Majorelle and his tranquil villa where he would design his collections,” Rau recalled his experience with the couturier. “In 1992, when I was contacted by Anne-Marie Perrier – at the time Editor in Chief of Elle Magazine (France) – and asked to record the 30th anniversary of the YSL fashion house, Marrakech immediately came to mind. The element of surprise is very important in photography. One doesn’t expect to see Catherine Deneuve in an out-of-the-way barber shop, or dressed in ‘le smoking’ in the middle of a teeming marketplace.”

Now, with 1,000 couture garments and accessories that are usually climate-sensitive and highly prized as well as 3,000 non-exhibited pieces from the nearby Berber Museum at the Jardin Majorelle, how do the museum safeguard these pieces from theft and in their pristine condition? The answer lies in its most demanding preventive conservation norms.

Conceptualised by preventive conservation consultant Véronique Monier, the museum employs an elaborate technical system that anticipates, prevents and hinders the natural deterioration or accidents that could age or damage the works. 

These norms guarantee that the pieces remain in an optimal state of conservation and are tailored to create a controlled environment that takes the local climate into account. A span of 700m² space within the museum is devoted to the conservation department with a specific space being set aside to receive garments, textiles or objects when they arrive at the museum.

What’s more, the received items are required to undergo strict conservation procedures, on par to what is currently employed by museums across the world. These procedures will be ran inside their respective rooms. 

Apart from the procedure-specific rooms, the conservation department also includes permanent storage spaces to house the collections. Every area is equipped with custom-made storage units that can be moved along rails, a system known as ‘compactus’, where the pieces that form the collection are classified and stored according to type.  

After completing your journey through Yves Saint Laurent’s monde de mode et merveilles (world of fashion and wonders), take home a tome or two from the museum’s bookstore. 

Fashioned after Saint Laurent’s Rive Gauche store in Paris, the bookstore is filled with books and films that inspired Yves Saint Laurent, including cinematic masterpieces by Luchino Visconti or In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust, which evoke an ideal library and private film archive at the couturier’s home. 

Also on display is a selection of re-edited jewellery by Loulou de La Falaise – the legendary jewellery and accessories designer at the Yves Saint Laurent fashion house. You can also enjoy an array of traditional Moroccan and inventive French dishes made using local ingredients and produce of high quality.

The Musée Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 pm.m and closes on Wednesday. The entrance fee is 100DH for tourists and 60DH for Moroccan citizens and residents.

*Photos courtesy of Musée Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech

Musée Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech - Rue Yves Saint Laurent, 40090

Marrakech, Morocco. Call +212 (0)5 24 29 86 86 or visit  www.museeyslmarrakech.com for more details.