The Yves Saint Laurent Denim Crossbody: Cassandre's Monogram on Workwear Cloth

Denim began as a working cloth and became, in the second half of the twentieth century, the uniform of the young. Luxury houses took a long time to treat it seriously. This crossbody bag from the 1990s, in denim with suede accents and the Yves Saint Laurent logo, made by hand in France, belongs to the moment when that changed, and it carries one of the most enduring marks in fashion.

A logo by Cassandre

In 1961, when Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé were establishing their new couture house, they asked Adolphe Mouron Cassandre for a logo. Cassandre was one of the best-known poster artists of his time. According to the Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris, he proposed the three initials interlaced vertically, a design that combined different letterforms in a single, balanced mark.

The monogram became the signature of the house. It appeared on labels, packaging and accessories, and over the decades on bags such as this one, where it serves both as decoration and as a guarantee of origin.

Rive Gauche and the everyday

Saint Laurent's most consequential commercial decision came in 1966, when he opened a ready-to-wear boutique under the name Saint Laurent Rive Gauche at 21 rue de Tournon, in Paris. The museum describes the move as the creation of a separate collection rather than a cheaper copy of couture, and it was followed by boutiques in New York in 1968 and London in 1969. Rive Gauche brought trouser suits, safari jackets and other garments taken from men's and working wardrobes into the mainstream of women's fashion.

A bag in denim fits that history. Saint Laurent's ready-to-wear embraced materials and shapes drawn from everyday clothing. In the 1990s, when this bag was made, denim had become a standard material for designer accessories, and the YSL monogram on blue cloth set a couture signature against the most democratic of fabrics.

The object

The Archivary describes the bag as a 1990s crossbody shoulder bag in denim with the signature logo and suede accents, with a zipped pocket and a long adjustable strap. It is 27 centimetres high, 26 wide and 7 deep, with a strap of up to 128 centimetres, and is described as handmade in France. Its condition is recorded as good: there are some signs of wear, a mark inside and slight marks on the back, all shown in the listing photographs.

Denim and suede make a practical but demanding combination. Denim fades with light and wear, which is part of its appeal, while suede marks and darkens where it is handled. A bag that combines them shows its history in both, and the honest record of that wear is as much part of the object as its logo.