le smoking by ysl.

The sixties were an era of change for women. Due to the liberation movement, women (finally) felt the power that they knew they had long ago.

During this period, people couldn't be indifferent to this. Yves Saint Laurent was one of them. He liberated women from their costumes and created the iconic "Le Smoking", a women's tuxedo, where they wear the pants. No genres attached, like it should have always been.

Back then, it was a risky move for a designer but YSL didn't look back and made history as one of the creators of an emancipation symbol. And it stood through the years on other brands, stores, etc. YSL turned fabric into something beyond their utility and design. "Le Smoking" was much more than its material.

Women had always the power. They were always heading somewhere, some dream that was always within them: being free. Free from their clothes, free from themselves.

photo by Helmut Newton, 1966