Man versus Brand: The Battle over Yves Saint Laurent

Last week, the highly anticipated biopic on designer Yves Saint Laurent was released to sold out crowds in France, beating out “The Wolf of Wall Street” and proof that even four years after his death and even more since he disappeared from public view, Saint Laurent is still fashion’s eternal enfant terrible (at least for the French.)

Directed by Jalil Lespert, the film, titled Yves Saint Laurent, has been controversial, mostly because a competing film is waiting in the wings: an “unauthorized” version of the designer’s life, although it probably won’t reveal anything we didn’t already know.

Still, Saint Laurent’s former lover and business manager Pierre Bergé has gone out of his way to block the rival film, going so far as to threaten suing if even a likeness of a dress is shown in sketch form, let alone as a costume. PPR, which owns the YSL brand, has given its blessing on the film.

Pierre Niney is already getting awards buzz for his remarkable turn as designer Yves Saint Laurent. Guillame Gallienne plays Pierre Bergé.

The tension continues with massive PR efforts from both camps, in social media and at foreign press screenings.

For Lespert’s version, the Fondation Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint Laurent gave the director access to the foundation’s massive collection of 5,000 dresses, 15,000 accessories, and 35,000 sketches – with the caveat that each item include a personal “handler.”

The highs and lows of Saint Laurent’s life have been well-documented before and his estate and the foundation continue to profit handsomely from all kinds of corporate ventures and neo-cultural partnerships — of which this film could be said to be one of them. In 2009 the  “sale of the century” of the couple’s incredible art collection amassed a record $484 million at Christie’s.

The real deal: the couple standing in their stunning townhouse. After Saint Laurent’s death, Bergé decided to auction their entire art collection at Christie’s, now known as the “sale of the century.” 

Nevertheless, this new film – which rushed to be released ahead of the rival film  – is already getting big buzz for Pierre Niney, who plays Saint Laurent and looks spookily like him (he even wears Saint Laurent’s personal glasses.)

Is this a film about a man, a brand, or both?

While the director would probably insist it is about Saint Laurent the man, Bergé’s controlling nature only underscores the fact that relatively early in the budding designer’s career, both he and Bergé were well-aware of Saint Laurent the brand. Indeed, they were the first fashion house to create a ready-to-wear collection, and they went wild with licensing agreements for everything from socks to cigarettes.

The film features original archival dresses on loan from the Fondation Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint Laurent. Each was required to have it’s own handler.

Bergé is no idiot, and while he claims his role is to uphold the designer’s “moral” legacy, he is and always has been, a businessman. He must have always known that creating a legend is as much about Saint Laurent’s legacy when he was alive as it is now that he is dead. Like Marilyn Monroe or James Dean, there is still plenty of money to be made from dead legends.

Still, some are holding out for director Bertrand Bonnello’s rival film, set for release this spring, if only to watch Bergé get completely unhinged over it.

“Yves Saint Laurent is a failed and troublesome corporate film,” writes a journalist for France’s Le Nouvel Observateur. I’d say that’s probably true, however the fashion business is a corporate business, and a film about Saint Laurent’s life would be incomplete without that part of the story.

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