Editor Reviews:

Description:
Two feature documentaries about the man who re-imagined women’s fashion. His Life and Times is an intimate biography featuring extensive interviews with the reclusive designer. 5 Avenue Marceau 75116 Paris is a behind the scenes look inside Saint Laurent’s legendary atelier during the creation of his final Spring line. Together they form "a timeless portrait of an artist at work - a celebration of human endeavor." (Los Angeles Times)

Amazon.com:
Few would have guessed that Yves Saint Laurent idolized beatniks, and even secretly desired to become one. But already known for his impeccable taste and proper upbringing, the fashion designer was reticent to change too much from what brought him fame--haute couture. This latest DVD collection packages two documentaries, Yves Saint Laurent: His Life and Times and Yves Saint Laurent: 5 Avenue Marceau to give a thorough understanding of the soft-spoken designer who flourished for 40 years in the fashion industry, even when competing against fashionable upstarts such as Stella McCartney and Zac Posen. The first film concentrates on his early years while the latter focuses on the creation of his final Spring collection. While the less technically savvy film of the two (it's full of awkward editing, shaky footage, and background noise that sometimes interferes with the interviews), His Life and Times offers more content. Born in 1936, Saint Laurent had an eye for style from an early age (At age 3, he suggested his elderly great aunt change her frock, and she listened.) As a teenager, he won a fashion contest that inadvertently got him an interview with Christian Dior. By the age of 26, he opened his own house of couture. While his father never approved of his less-than-manly career choice, and never acknowledged his son's homosexuality, Saint Laurent remembers that his father's last words on his deathbed were, "Ou est Yves?" ("Where is Yves?"). Though he liked working directly with his staff, Saint Laurent had a distinct way of viewing his collections: Rather than looking directly at the models wearing his creations, he would look at their reflections in the mirror as they were walking toward it; for him, this was a more real way of seeing his clothes. Though both documentaries move at a slow pace--that matches Saint Laurent's shy and well-thought out manner of speech--they provide interesting insight on a fashion icon. --Jae-Ha Kim

Rating : - It's best to learn from the BEST
Having been in the fashion world for more than two decades, this DVD is the best example of what the Couture World is all about, perhaps a vanishing art but Yves was one of the last great real couture designers and this movie demonstrates that to the best ability. For anyone interested in Fashion and art in general, this is perhaps one of the most interesting documents on how the true couture work, men and women with true dedication to the art of drapping and hand work that produces the small miracles in beadwork, and all elements that made a couture garment different from any other. True understanding of the way a dress should look and how it flows like air. I recommend it highly to anyone going into the fashion world or already in the fashion world.