Inside Yves Saint Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld’s turbulent relationship

A few years after his death, Karl Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent are still two of the biggest names in fashion. But the history involved goes beyond haute couture.

German fashion designer and photographer Karl Lagerfeld spent his early career at Chloé and Fendi, but is perhaps best known for being the creative driving force behind the revival of modern Chanel.

French couturier Yves Saint Laurent, on the other hand, began his apprenticeship at Dior, before founding his eponymous fashion label in 1962.

From the initial stage, two competitions for the recognition of both friends and the press. But beyond their professional rivalry, the two creatives were embroiled in a tumultuous love triangle that caused a scandal between the Paris social scene at the time.

Now, thanks to the new limited drama series on Disney + and Hulu, Being Karl Lagerfeld, new audiences are introduced to the story of the wild – and very real.

How did Karl Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent meet?

In 1954, when Karl was 21 and Yves 18, they entered the prestigious design competition in Paris, the International Wool Secretariat, now known as the International Woolmark Prize.

Although Karl won first prize in the suit category, Yves took the top spot in the evening gown category.

In the following years, Yves was hired by Christian Dior, and then named his successor when he died in 1957.

Yves was finally fired from Dior when he was drafted into the army three years later. Her fashion career was far from over, and in 1961 she started her own fashion label, which became her name.

Meanwhile, Karl started at the French ready-to-wear brand Chloé, and also worked with the luxury Italian designer label, Fendi. He later worked with Balmain and Jean Patou, as well as Chanel.

Who is at the center of the love triangle?

Tensions rise after Yves begins a brief affair with Karl’s long-term romantic partner, Jacques de Bascher. The romance caught the attention of the industry and increased the rivalry between the pair.

Jacques is known as a socialite and an Air France flight attendant by trade, and is also an aspiring writer. He comes from an aristocratic family and is used to the high life.

She met Karl in a Paris club in 1971 and a romance began. This fashion icon said that he is deeply in love with his new beauty.

The relationship of Yves and Jacques happened in 1974 and lasted only six months. William Middleton, the biographer of Karl Paradise Now, says that the relationship was ended by Yves’ business partner and former passion Pierre Bergé, who blamed Jacques for Yves’ struggle with drugs.

The relationship did not become public knowledge until 2006, when Alicia Drake’s book, The Beautiful Fall, was published.

Despite his reputation as an unforgiving man, Karl allegedly forgave his partner, as he did for all of Jacques’ affairs.

Tragically, Jacques died of AIDS in 1989 at the age of 35. Three years after his death, Karl spoke about the impact he had on his life.

‘I’m not a family-minded person, and that’s the only thing that gives a kind of meaning to things,’ Karl told Vanity Fair in 1992. ‘He brought to my life a kind of sparkle that no one else would. Maybe there’s one person in life for you and that’s it.’

The rivalry between Karl Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent

The height of the feud dates back decades before the age of social media — and much of the mud slinging happened either verbally or tactically through calculated moves.

One of Karl’s most famous quotes was directed at Yves and became famous. “It was an absurd idea when he (Yves) said he had no youth. I knew him myself when he had it, but he only had one desire at that time…to be rich and famous,” Karl told the French magazine.

Karl spoke publicly about the relationship between Saint Laurent and de Bascher in Marie Ottavi’s 2014 book, Jacques de Bascher, dandy de l’ombre, where he blamed the tension between him and Yves on Pierre.

“Of course I knew about his relationship with Saint Laurent,” he said. ‘I have been close friends with Yves for over 20 years. We used to go out in the early days with Anne-Marie Munoz and Victoire Doutreleau. Pierre smashed that into bits. He said I planned a liaison to destroy Saint Laurent’s house.’

On the flipside, there doesn’t seem to be much record of Yves talking about Karl about the hostility.

Yves died in 2008 of brain cancer and Karl died in 2019 of complications from prostate cancer. Despite their rivalry, the two carved out a legacy that will remain sutured in fashion’s DNA forever.

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