Quote Of The Day By Yves Saint Laurent: 'I Have Learned That What Is Important In A Dress Is...'

His name is so synonymous with style, people might forget there was a real person behind it. Before he was a household name with his own maison de couture, Yves Saint Laurent was born in Algeria in 1936. After moving to Paris, France with his family, he attended fashion school where he won a design contest — a move that rocketed him towards his destiny of being one of history's most influential designers. Scouted by a Vogue executive, Saint Laurent was referred to Christian Dior himself, who hired him as an assistant when he was just 17 years old. 

Swiftly rising through the ranks, Saint Laurent would go on to transform the trajectory of women's fashion. In 1957, he became the head designer of Dior following its founder's death. The following year, his Trapèze line revolutionized feminine silhouettes of the era, breaking away from the stiff cinched waist to lighter and more flowy garments. He started his own eponymous brand in 1962, taking his women's lines to new levels by exploring androgynous collections, practical couture, and ready-to-wear high fashion, not to mention the blending of clothing and art. Widely credited with popularizing the women's tuxedo, Saint Laurent was someone whose thoughts on fashion should always be taken seriously.

In 1999, he sold his fashion house to Gucci, bringing in $1 billion and retiring in style before his 2008 death. By 2024, YSL was still the luxury brand to watch. Considering the mark he left on women's clothing specifically, not to mention his incredible success, Yves Saint Laurent is the perfect person for our quote of the day. 

"Over the years I have learned that what is important in a dress is the woman who's wearing it." 

This is one of Yves Saint Laurent's most famous quotes, and it's been echoed so often through the years that no one's quite sure of its origins. But like many of his other quotes on fashion, it strikes a chord for its transparency and simple truth. 

Fashion was Yves Saint Laurent's bread and butter, but he never tried to sell his customers the misleading idea that his clothes could transform them. Actually, this quote sums up his true view of fashion: It's the cherry on top of the star of the show, which is you. A dress can't change who you are, and it should never overshadow the person wearing it. 

While we don't have Saint Laurent here to break down the quote for us, we do suspect he was also hinting at the fact that fashion just isn't that deep. It's absolutely a tool for self-expression that can make you feel better or worse, and it can be powerful when used in the right way. But the dress always comes second to the person underneath. As a designer whose livelihood depended on people buying his clothes, Saint Laurent was certainly bold for this statement. And perhaps it was this honesty and sense of respect that endeared him to customers — along with his revolutionary collections. 

So consider this a permission slip from a fashion legend to have fun with your clothes. Let them complement you and express yourself, because they'll never be as important as who you are beneath them. Even the most on-trend dress or expensive pair of paints will ultimately be vehicles to serve you, and it's never worth it to feel uncomfortable in your clothes for the sake of fashion. Even in YSL digs, you are what matters. 

• "Elegance is the result of good taste, intelligence, and a certain something that can't be bought."
• "Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening."
• "The most important thing is to be yourself. Don't try to be someone you're not."
• "Don't be into trends. Don't make fashion own you, but you decide what you are, what you want to express by the way you dress and the way to live."
• "I had noticed men were much more confident in their clothes. So I sought through trouser suits, trench coats, tuxedos and pea coats to give women the same confidence."
• "Fashion fades, style is eternal."
• "It pains me physically to see a woman victimized, rendered pathetic, by fashion."
• "We must never confuse elegance with snobbery."