All You Need Is Love: Yves Saint Laurent’s New Year’s Tradition

Design We Love | The Badass and the Beautiful

All You Need Is Love: Yves Saint Laurent’s New Year’s Tradition

In France, as in other European countries, the New Year’s card is far more meaningful than the Christmas card. Where the Christmas card is vapid and vague in its wishes, the New Year’s card is solemn and sincere, a wistful hope that the great unknown of a new year will find us all together again.

Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris

Beginning in 1970, designer Yves Saint Laurent handcrafted a single image as a poster with simply the word LOVE and then sent them to his colleagues, friends, and intimate clients as his single worded expression of his New Year’s wish.

Whether as collage, drawing, or gouache, each year’s card memorialized the passing of one year and the beginning of another, with whatever graphic expression he fancied at that moment.

And while Saint Laurent ceased making the cards in 2007 (he passed away the following year) We are still in awe of these beautiful posters which manage to make one word a Valentine to the world and to life.

So, let’s celebrate love in 2020, because… all you need is love.