Tribute to model Loulou De La Falaise

Loulou de la Falaise, who created jewellery and hats for fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent, died Saturday at the age of 63 was variously described as an ambassador, friend, confidante and “party pal” of the fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent; most often, however, she was branded his “muse”.

La Falaise moved to New York City in the late 1960s, where she briefly modeled before turning to designing printed fabrics for Halston. For a period she worked as a junior editor at the British society magazine Queen, during which time she met fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent. Eventually La Falaise moved to Paris, where she joined his haute-couture firm in 1972. Responding to a description of her as a Saint Laurent muse in 2010, La Falaise responded, “For me, a muse is someone who looks glamorous but is quite passive, whereas I was very hard-working. I worked from 9am to sometimes 9pm, or even 2am. I certainly wasn’t passive.”

"Her official task was to bring her eccentric style to accessories and jewellery, and she duly came up with often-chunky designs incorporating large colourful stones, enamel work or rock crystal".La Falaise also inspired Saint Laurent with her inventive wardrobe: "one week she was Desdemona in purple velvet flares and a crown of flowers, the next Marlene [Dietrich] with plucked crescent-shaped eyebrows". Cesare Cunaccia of Italian Vogue observed, "She was cool, ironic, fragile and strong, imaginatively décalé, balanced halfway between following the rules and ostentatious originality, sophisticated and négligé all at the same time, and she caused a profound cultural revolution in YSL, opening up a new aesthetic dimension. ... Her enthusiasm, her frivolity, her bold sense of colour – and even her relationships – became increasingly necessary to the couturier. Always positive, conciliatory and ready to laugh even in the most difficult moment, Loulou was to become the impetus for YSL to rethink and rediscover colour".

In 2002, when Yves Saint Laurent retired, La Falaise began producing her own clothing and jewelry designs. As reported in The New York Times by fashion writer Cathy Horyn, "The clothing line captured much of her rare taste—well-cut blazers in the best English tweeds, French sailor pants in linen, striped silk blouses with cheeky black lace edging, masculine walking coats with fur linings, and gorgeous knits in perfectly chosen colors".

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