June, 1955
Debut at Dior

Since their first meeting, Yves Saint Laurent had continued to correspond with Michel de Brunhoff, editor-in-chief of Vogue (Paris). In June 1955, Saint Laurent showed him a few of his sketches. De Brunhoff was so astonished by how closely Saint Laurent’s lines resembled those of Christian Dior that he immediately decided to show them to Dior himself. “I have never in my life met anyone more gifted,” De Brunhoff wrote to Edmonde Charles-Roux, his successor at Vogue (Paris).

On June 20, 1955, Saint Laurent met Dior, who was also impressed by his talent and immediately hired him as his assistant.

One of Saint Laurent’s first dresses for Dior was immortalized by Richard Avedon in the famous photograph “Dovima with Elephants,” taken at the Cirque d’Hiver.

I would come in every morning and spend the day next to Christian Dior without talking much. I have to say I learned a lot. Dior stimulated my imagination, and he fully trusted me with the work. One of his ideas could prompt mine, and one of my ideas could prompt his. That became more clear in the end than in the beginning. There was no discussion between us. I had an idea. I drew it. I showed him the sketch. The proof was in the whole demonstration. Since I’m not very talkative, I preferred that. It was a tour de force.

Yves Saint Laurent, cited in Yves Saint Laurent, by Laurence Benaïm.

During this period, he met the famous model Victoire Doutreleau and Anne-Marie Muñoz, with whom he would closely collaborate in his studio after opening his own haute couture house.