Grace Kelly and Yves Saint Laurent, the beautiful and the damned. Some post-mortem analogies. 

The American Princess

Grace Kelly, the American princess, the actress, the fashion icon, an utterly good-looking offspring and a doomed cruel fate. We have seen her, loved her styled by Givenchy in 'Rear Window' and at least once dreamed to be her.

The movie 'Grace of Monaco' starring Nicole Kidman will premiere at Cannes Film Festival, how fabulous and geographically appropriate, right? The picture perfect novel is screeched by the news that the royals of Monaco, the Ranieri, her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren will not be in attendance. Prince Albert has spoken: the character of his father has been 'vilified' to paraphrase. 

While we are anxious to watch the movie, see Nicole Kidman's performance

The French artist

Yves Saint Laurent and his troubled and dark life are the subject of two movies. When one life and a bigger than life legacy cause controversy and debacle.

Yves Saint Laurent  vs. Saint Laurent 

Corporate battle? With the first being blessed, approved and authorized by Pierre Berge' and the latter fought, threatened to be banned by the designer's long-time partner. We have read YSL's bio by Alice Rawsthorn, his Voguepedia profile and watched the documentary on Netflix on numerous rainy Sunday afternoons. 

Fact is that now that the new creative director,  Hedi Slimane, has taken bold decisions and veered the direction of the brand far from where Stefano Pilati had aimed and eons away from the artist's world [told ys the opinions are mine], we, and by 'we' here I mean us, fashion world, not 'we the people' have risen our antennas ET style.

A series of questions arise:

1. What took Monsieur Berge' to take the biased decision? 'I will give access to the archives and my personal approval to one and not the other one.'
2. Are we really even sure that we are going to be able to see the movies in the US? [usually when movies are so controversial they are shushed in our beloved America]
3. If so, when? May is one, the 'blessed' one, but how about the black sheep?
4. Why, if the company's name has been officially changed by Slimane to Saint Laurent with Monsieur Berge' approval,  the title of the authorized YSL sealed movie is called Yves Saint Laurent? 

Some numbers and curiosities: 

• seventy-seven is the number of outfits lent from the headquarters and each of them hand delivered by one handler
• 'conditio sine qua non' to borrow the garments was that the Fondation Pierre Berge - Yves Saint Laurent would choose models, hair and make-up ... talking about micro-managing
• Pierre Niney, the actor impersonating the designer, was allowed to wear the glasses that Saint Laurent used to wear (I mean the same frame). He looked so identical that the dog, the very one dog that the couple used to have though he had found his lost owner.

Analogies?

They were both talented gracious souls.

He had this noir halo that persecuted him, in other words what it is called a troubled soul. She had a noir fate persecuting her.

We lost them too early: we needed more of them ...

There's only one thing to do: wait and devour [the movies when they come out].