Simple 1960s shift dresses often acted as canvasses for bold adornments, an idea that Yves Saint Laurent took quite literally. His fall 1965 collection became known as his “Mondrian” collection, in spite of the fact that it contained only six dresses that resembled the Dutch painter’s work.

Saint Laurent had previously experimented with color-blocking while he was working for the house of Christian Dior, but he was not the first designer to be inspired by Mondrian: several years earlier, the American milliner Sally Victor had created a series of hats that took their cue from his paintings. Nevertheless, Saint Laurent’s colorful, geometric dresses became some of his most famous – and copied – works. Saint Laurent himself licensed his design to Vogue patterns, and cheap, mass-manufactured imitations of the style proliferated during the 1960s, as evidenced by the fashions worn to promote the 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado at the Detroit Auto Show that same year.

Paris Refashioned, 1957-1968 runs through April 15, 2017 at The Museum at FIT in NYC.

A Tribute to Ready-to-Wear Innovator Emmanuelle Khanh
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