Loulou & Yves: The Untold Story of Loulou de La Falaise and the House of Saint Laurent (ST. MARTIN'S PR)

No one interested in fashion, style, or the high-flying intrigues of café society will want to miss the exuberantly entertaining oral biography Loulou & Yves: The Untold Story of Loulou de La Falaise and the House of Saint Laurent , by Christopher Petkanas. Loulou de La Falaise (1947-2011) was one of the most important women in the history of twentieth-century fashion, a brilliant iconoclast descending in a direct line from Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli. Born into a family of aesthetes, she was the daughter of a French nobleman and a British mother, Maxime Birley, a tornado of creative flamboyance. In 1968, Loulou's Bohemian spirit, coupled with her fearless sense of style, caught the attention of Yves Saint Laurent (1936-2008)—the most influential designer of his time. Thus began an exquisitely intimate and sometimes painful personal and professional relationship, unequaled in the annals of artistic collaboration: for thirty years, until his... No one interested in fashion, style, or the high-flying intrigues of caf society will want to miss the exuberantly entertaining oral biography Loulou & Yves: The Untold Story of Loulou de La Falaise and the House of Saint Laurent , by Christopher Petkanas. Dauntless,"in the bone" style made Loulou de La Falaise one of the great fashion firebrands of the twentieth century. Descending in a direct line from Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli, she was celebrated at her death in 2011, aged just sixty-four, as the "highest of haute bohemia," a feckless adventuress in the art of living--and the one person Yves Saint Laurent could not live without. Yves Saint Laurent (1936-2008) was the most influential designer of his times; possibly also the most neurasthenic. In an exquisitely intimate, sometimes painful personal and professional relationship, Loulou de La Falaise was his creative right hand, muse, alter ego and the virtuoso behind all the devastatingly flamboyant accessories that were a crucial component of the YSL "look." For thirty years, until his retirement in 2002, Yves relied on Loulou to inspire him with the tilt of her hat, make him laugh and talk him off the ledge--the enchanted formula that brought him from one historic collection to the next. " Her presence at my side is a dream," Yves declares in Loulou & Yves . "I trust her reactions. Sometimes they are violent but always positive... I bounce ideas off her and they come back clearer and things begin to happen." Yves's many tributes shape Loulou's memory, as if everything there was to know about this fugitive, Giacometti-like figure could be told by her clanking bronze cuffs, towering fur toques, the turquoise boulders on her fingers and her working friendship with the man who put women in pants. But parallel to this storyline runs another, darker one, lifting the veil on Loulou, a classic "number two" with a contempt for convention, and exposing the underbelly of fashion at its highest level. Behind Yves's encomiums are a pair of aristocrat parents--Loulou's shiftless French father and menacingly chic English mother--who abandoned her to a childhood of foster care and sexual abuse straight out of " Les Misrables "; Loulou's recurring desperation to leave Yves and go out on her own; and the grandiose myths surrounding her family. Loulou felt that her life had been kidnapped by the operatic workings of the House of Saint Laurent, and in her last years danced with financial ruin. Delving beyond the "official" version of her life, Loulou & Yves unspools an elusive fashion idol--nymphomaniacal, heedless and up to her bracelets in coke and Boizel champagne--at the core of what used to be called " le beau monde ." On the theory that everyone loves a cocktail party, Loulou & Yves traces her life chronologically through the charming literary device of oral biography, in which the spoken memories of more than two hundred "voices"--husbands, lovers, extended family, friends, enemies, slightly less bitter detractors, colleagues, groupies, pundits, and hangers-on--are seamlessly interwoven with those of Yves and Loulou themselves. Readers mingle at the party as invited guests, listening in on Andy Warhol and Karl Lagerfeld and collecting clues from Mick Jagger and Tom Ford as the narrative unfolds. Topping the A-list of figures who tell Loulou's story in their own words, uncensored, are Cecil Beaton, Diana Vreeland, Thade Klossowski, Robert Mapplethorpe, Helmut Newton, Hubert de Givenchy, Manolo Blahnik, Diane von Furstenberg, Elsa Peretti, Betty Catroux, John Richardson, Alber Elbaz, Christian Louboutin, Grace Coddington, Ben Brantley, Bruce Chatwin, Lady Annabel Goldsmith, Andr Leon Talley, and Pierre Berg. In a fluent round of sparkling conversation, author Christopher Petkanas brings them all together for a party that swirls around one of the most scintillating women the fashion world has ever known. "She's the sounding board," Yves rhapsodizes of his second self in Loulou & Yves , a sweeping, waspish work of fashion and social history. "She's never wrong." No one interested in fashion, style, or the high-flying intrigues of cafE society will want to miss the exuberantly entertaining oral biography Loulou & Yves: The Untold Story of Loulou de La Falaise and the House of Saint Laurent, by Christopher Petkanas. Dauntless, "in the bone" style made Loulou de La Falaise one of the great fashion firebrands of the twentieth century. Descending in a direct line from Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli, she was celebrated at her death in 2011, aged just sixty-four, as the "highest of haute bohemia," a feckless adventuress in the art of living-and the one person Yves Saint Laurent could not live without. Yves Saint Laurent (1936-2008) was the most influential designer of his times; possibly also the most neurasthenic. In an exquisitely intimate, sometimes painful personal and professional relationship, Loulou de La Falaise was his creative right hand, muse, alter ego and the virtuoso behind all the devastatingly flamboyant accessories that were a crucial component of the YSL "look." For thirty years, until his retirement in 2002, Yves relied on Loulou to inspire him with the tilt of her hat, make him laugh and talk him off the ledge-the enchanted formula that brought him from one historic collection to the next. "Her presence at my side is a dream," Yves declares in Loulou & Yves. "I trust her reactions. Sometimes they are violent but always positive ... I bounce ideas off her and they come back clearer and things begin to happen." Yves's many tributes shape Loulou's memory, as if everything there was to know about this fugitive, Giacometti-like figure could be told by her clanking bronze cuffs, towering fur toques, the turquoise boulders on her fingers and her working friendship with the man who put women in pants. But parallel to this storyline runs another, darker one, lifting the veil on Loulou, a classic "number two" with a contempt for convention, and exposing the underbelly of fashion at its highest level. Behind Yves's encomiums are a pair of aristocrat parents-Loulou's shiftless French father and menacingly chic English mother-who abandoned her to a childhood of foster care and sexual abuse straight out of "Les MisErables"; Loulou's recurring desperation to leave Yves and go out on her own; and the grandiose myths surrounding her family. Loulou felt that her life had been kidnapped by the operatic workings of the House of Saint Laurent, and in her last years danced with financial ruin. Delving beyond the "official" version of her life, Loulou & Yves unspools an elusive fashion idol-nymphomaniacal, heedless and up to her bracelets in coke and Boizel champagne-at the core of what used to be called "le beau monde." On the theory that everyone loves a cocktail party, Loulou & Yves traces her life chronologically through the charming literary device of oral biography, in which the spoken memories of more than two hundred "voices"--Husbands, lovers, extended family, friends, enemies, slightly less bitter detractors, colleagues, groupies, pundits, and hangers-on-are seamlessly interwoven with those of Yves and Loulou themselves. Readers mingle at the party as invited guests, listening in on Andy Warhol and Karl Lagerfeld and collecting clues from Mick Jagger and Tom Ford as the narrative unfolds. Topping the A-list of figures who tell Loulou's story in their own words, uncensored, are Cecil Beaton, Diana Vreeland

No one interested in fashion, style, or the high-flying intrigues of café society will want to miss Christopher Petkanas’s exuberantly entertaining oral biography Loulou & Yves: The Untold Story of Loulou de La Falaise and the House of Saint Laurent.

Dauntless, “in the bone” style made Loulou de La Falaise one of the great fashion firebrands of the twentieth century. Descending in a direct line from Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli, she was celebrated at her death in 2011, aged just sixty-four, as the “highest of haute bohemia,” a feckless adventuress in the art of living—and the one person Yves Saint Laurent could not live without.

Yves was the most influential designer of his times; possibly also the most neurasthenic. In an exquisitely intimate, sometimes painful personal and professional relationship, Loulou was his creative right hand, muse, alter ego and the virtuoso behind all the flamboyant accessories that were a crucial component of the YSL “look.” For thirty years, until his retirement in 2002, Yves relied on Loulou to inspire him, make him laugh and talk him off the ledge—the enchanted formula that brought him from one historic collection to the next.

Yves’s many tributes shape Loulou’s memory, as if everything there was to know about this fugitive, Giacometti-like figure could be told by her clanking bronze cuffs, towering fur toques, the turquoise boulders on her fingers and her working friendship with the man who put women in pants. But another, darker story lifts the veil on Loulou, a classic “number two” with a contempt for convention, and exposes the underbelly of fashion at its highest level. Behind Yves’s encomiums are a pair of aristocrat parents—Loulou’s shiftless French father and menacingly chic English mother—who abandoned her to a childhood of foster care and sexual abuse; Loulou’s recurring desperation to leave Yves and go out on her own; and the grandiose myths surrounding her family. Loulou felt that her life had been kidnapped by the operatic workings of the House of Saint Laurent, and in her last years faced financial ruin. Loulou & Yves unspools an elusive fashion idol—nymphomaniacal, heedless and up to her bracelets in coke and Boizel champagne—at the core of what used to be called “le beau monde.”

No one interested in fashion, style, or the high-flying intrigues of café society will want to miss Christopher Petkanas's exuberantly entertaining oral biography Loulou & Yves: The Untold Story of Loulou de La Falaise and the House of Saint Laurent . Dauntless, "in the bone" style made Loulou de La Falaise one of the great fashion firebrands of the twentieth century. Descending in a direct line from Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli, she was celebrated at her death in 2011, aged just sixty-four, as the "highest of haute bohemia," a feckless adventuress in the art of living—and the one person Yves Saint Laurent could not live without. Yves was the most influential designer of his times; possibly also the most neurasthenic. In an exquisitely intimate, sometimes painful personal and professional relationship, Loulou was his creative right hand, muse, alter ego and the virtuoso behind all the flamboyant accessories that were a crucial component of the YSL "look." For thirty years, until his retirement in 2002, Yves relied on Loulou to inspire him, make him laugh and talk him off the ledge—the enchanted formula that brought him from one historic collection to the next. Yves's many tributes shape Loulou's memory, as if everything there was to know about this fugitive, Giacometti-like figure could be told by her clanking bronze cuffs, towering fur toques, the turquoise boulders on her fingers and her working friendship with the man who put women in pants. But another, darker story lifts the veil on Loulou, a classic "number two" with a contempt for convention, and exposes the underbelly of fashion at its highest level. Behind Yves's encomiums are a pair of aristocrat parents—Loulou's shiftless French father and menacingly chic English mother—who abandoned her to a childhood of foster care and sexual abuse; Loulou's recurring desperation to leave Yves and go out on her own; and the grandiose myths surrounding her family. Loulou felt that her life had been kidnapped by the operatic workings of the House of Saint Laurent, and in her last years faced financial ruin. Loulou & Yves unspools an elusive fashion idol—nymphomaniacal, heedless and up to her bracelets in coke and Boizel champagne—at the core of what used to be called "le beau monde." Dauntless 'in The Bone Style' Made Loulou De La Falaise One Of The Great Fashion Firebrands Of The Twentieth Century. Descending In A Direct Line From Coco Chanel And Elsa Schiaparelli, She Was Celebrated At Her Death In 2011, Aged Just Sixty-four, As The 'highest Of Haute Bohemia, ' A Feckless Adventuress In The Art Of Living--and The One Person Yves Saint Laurent Could Not Live Without ... [she] Was His Creative Right Hand, Muse, Alter Ego, And The Virtuoso Behind All The ... Accessories That Were A Crucial Component Of The Ysl 'look'--amazon.com. Sir Oswald And Lady Birley -- A Tribe Called Falaise -- Rogue Countess -- Les Miserables -- A Precocious Itinerary : East Sussex To Gstaad, New York To Provence -- The Knight Of Glin -- She's Married To A Fairy, So What's Her Problem? -- Donald Cammell, Sex Addict -- Hippie De Luxe Londonienne -- The Years Between, 1968-1972 -- Loulou & Yves -- Anne-marie Munoz, Mater Dolorosa -- Thadee Or Ricardo? -- Glue-gunning Ahead Of The Curve -- Stop Press -- Wedding Of The Decade -- La Vie En Couple -- Bijoux De Fantaisie -- Les Clans -- Muse? -- The Fiat Guy -- Les Girls Saint Laurent -- Lady Libertine -- Slogging Through The '90s -- Ain't Laurent Without Yves -- Loulou, Inc. -- Final Stretch -- In Extremis -- The Second Death Of Saint Laurent -- Afterlife. Christopher Petkanas. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Loulou de la Falaise was one of the most important women in the history of twentieth century fashion. Born in England into a family of aesthetes with a father who was a count and a mother, Maxine, who was a tornado of artistic flamboyance, Loulou's Bohemian spirit coupled with her unerring sense of style brought her to the attention of Yves Saint Laurent. She became his muse, and the rest is history. Working alongside him, pushing and prodding the troubled genius to the next collection, and the next, and the next, she was indispensable to him in Paris, in Tangier, in New York - in short wherever he went. In 'Loulou & Yves', Christopher Petkanas assembles almost every important figure in twentieth century fashion and art to tell her story: Andre Leon Talley, Hamish Bowles, Grace Coddington, Ines de la Fressange, Betty Catroux, Suzy Menkes, Ricardo Bofill, Robert Mapplethorpe, John Richardson, Yves St. Laurent, and Loulou herself. Just as George Plimpton evoked Edie Sedgewick in his brilliant oral biography Edie, Petkanas brings all of these people together for a cocktail party that swirls around one of the most brilliant women the fashion world has ever known "Loulou de La Falaise was one of the great fashion firebrands of the twentieth century. Descending in a direct line from Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli, she was celebrated at her death in 2011, aged just sixty-four, as the 'highest of haute bohemia,' a feckless adventuress in the art of living--and the one person Yves Saint Laurent could not live without . Yves Saint Laurent (1936-2008) was the most influential designer of his times; possibly also the most neurasthenic. In an exquisitely intimate, sometimes painful personal and professional relationship, Loulou de La Falaise was his creative right hand, muse, alter ego and the virtuoso behind all the devastatingly flamboyant accessories that were a crucial component of the YSL "look." For thirty years, until his retirement in 2002, Yves relied on Loulou to inspire him with the tilt of her hat, make him laugh and talk him off the ledge - the enchanted formula that brought him from one historic collection to the next."--Dust jacket