Discovering Fashion - Season 1

Yves Saint Laurent was born in Algeria in 1936. Bullied at school, he found solace in fashion. Paper Dolls quickly evolved into dress making. In 1954 he enrolled at Chambre Syndicate de la Haute Couture where he met Christian Dior, who hired him on the spot. His first design for Dior appeared in the iconic photograph Dovima with Elephants. After the early death of Dior, YSL takes over the Dior Fashion House, and his legendary Trapeze Dress, launching his career. Following a brief conscription in the war with Algeria, and sacking by Dior, he launched Yves Saint Laurent YSL in 1961.
Yves Saint Laurent became a leader in fashion for the next two decades, with his safari Jackets, tight trousers, thigh high boots and the tuxedo for women known as Le Smoking. He was the first to use ethnic models and first to democratize fashion world with is launch of Rive Gauche.
A legend in French culture who was to design for their favourite actress Catherine Deneuve, YSL received the Legion d'Honneur from Jacques Chirac.

Christian Dior, born in 1905 always had an eye for arts. He had a small art gallery which included works by Picasso, and worked as an illustrator at Figaro Illustré. In 1937, Robert Piguet, accepted Dior's designs for his own collections. In 1946 Dior opened his own fashion house. His first collection, "Corolle", was re-coined "New Look" by Harper's Bazaar. His passion for bustier-style bodices, petticoats and wasp waisted corsets, enraged many as they required double the fabric at the time of rationing. Regardless, "New Look" re-established Paris as the centre of the fashion world.
Dior's younger sister Catherine, joined the French resistance, and was later captured by the Gestapo. She survived, and Dior's first fragrance, Miss Dior, was named in her honour.
Dior's timeless collections were adored by actresses including Marlene Dietrich, Rita Hayworth and Ava Gardner.
Dior died of a heart attack in 1957. 2,500 people attended his funeral. Including the Duchess of Windsor. Yves Saint Laurent was appointed artistic director the same year. John Galliano became creative director in 1997, as it was claimed by the new owner, he had "the same extraordinary mixture of romanticism, feminism and modernity that symbolised Monsieur Dior".

Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel was born in 1883. After the death of her mother, she was sent to an orphanage. Here she learned how to sew. In 1910 Chanel opened her first shop in Paris, as well as Deauville, where a simple reinvention of a jersey shirt to a dress changed the world of fashion: "my fortune is built on that old jersey". Chanel No. 5, was her first fragrance. "I present my dress collections on the 5th of May, the 5th month of the year. Let this sample "number five" keep the name it has already, it will bring good luck."
Chanel famously changed the "how men dressed woman" to "how woman wished to dress themselves", epitomised by the classic Chanel Suit and the "Little Black Dress". By 1917, Chanel owned five properties on the fashionable rue Cambon, which now covered clothes, hats, accessories, jewellery and fragrance and it had employed over 4,000 people. World War II forced Chanel to close all her shops, and she received special permission to stay in her apartment at the Hotel Ritz. In 1954, her new collection was not received well by Parisians but was celebrated by the British and Americans including stars Elizabeth Taylor, Jackie Kennedy and Grace Kelly. Coco Chanel died on January 10th, 1971, at the age of 87 at the Hotel Ritz where she had resided for more than 30 years.
In 1983, Karl Lagerfeld took over as creative director. Today, there are more than 300 Chanel stores worldwide. Coco Chanel was Time Magazine's only designer to top its "100 most important people of the 20th century – artists and entertainers".