When, at the age of 26, Yves Saint Laurent, presented his first solo fashion show for his eponymous label at 30 bis rue Spontini in Paris on a January evening in 1962, there was no mistaking that the “little prince of fashion” was set on alleviating and elevating womenswear, and liberating the female form. While the term gender-fluid was coined decades after this showcase, in his line of easy jackets, chic trapeze dresses, tailored pants, and pea coats, what stood out was a green and gold dress coat, accessorised with a matching turban. In the rich brocade fabric of that coat, jewelled buttons, the ornaments on turbans, and embellished collars presented on streamlined tunics, one could readily see Saint Laurent’s interpretation of royal India—bringing the quintessential Maharaja’s masculine overcoat to women’s wardrobes.

Fashion historians would later talk about how the beginnings of the French couturier’s love affair with India were evident in that debut collection—a life-long and long-distance liaison that recurrently resurfaced in his design story yet was fated to remain elusive. Saint Laurent once famously said: “I have been to every country in my dreams… All I have to do to blend into a place or a landscape is to read a book, or look at a picture, and then use my imagination.” It was no wonder then that the long ceremonial robes of India’s royals, the splash of vibrant colours, the sheen of their sumptuous fabrics and the glitter of the maharaja’s jewels, spurred Saint Laurent’s imagination.

Ironically, for someone who was charmed by Oriental textiles and traditions, and reinterpreted the Japanese kimono, Chinese traditional attire and Indian royal garments for the Occidental market throughout his illustrious career, Saint Laurent never set foot on Indian soil. But that didn’t stop the Frenchman from poring over wondrous tomes in his expansive library on history, culture and costumery, referencing books like Historic India and Ancient Indian Costume, as well as some notable books published by the Calico Museum of Textiles in Ahmedabad. Indeed, Saint Laurent—with Pierre Berge, his life partner and YSL’s co-founder—collected some beautiful art and artifacts that continued to inspire the designer, including antique 18-century Indian textiles, Mughal period daggers, jewellery and collectibles.

But for all his love for sumptuous silks and luxurious brocades—commissioned from the Lyon-based firm Bucol, or the Swiss firm Abraham, and lavishly embroidered by ateliers like Mesrines, Lanel, or Rébé—Saint Laurent still kept the woman at the centre of his creation. For him, fashion existed not only to make women beautiful but “to reassure them so they can assert themselves.” So, the regal bandhgala and sherwani silhouettes lost their bulk and were reinterpreted into timeless tunics, coat dresses, jacket-skirt or jacket-pant suit combinations for ease of wear. The turban, conventionally gender assigned to Indian male royalty, was transplanted as head gear for the YSL woman, often adorned with an ornament called the sarpech. Gold buttons were prominently used, giving a subtle nod to Indian penchant for heavy gold jewellery. This was power dressing at its finest.

Also influenced by the Mughal India textile and art vocabulary was Saint Laurent’s love for florals and botany. The Kashmiri paisley motif or the buta or ambi became Saint Laurent’s famous boteh motif, often used in embroidery, gold applique and jewellery. And while one saw glimpses of his interpretation of India throughout his illustrious career, it was in 1982 that the couturier gave free rein to the India that he traversed in his dreams. His spring/summer 1982 India collection was a riot of colours, replete with rich brocade boleros, statement gold embroidery, silken taffeta floor-length skirts and his trademark ornamental turbans. But Saint Laurent managed to strike a precarious balance, teaming the ostentatious and outré with simpler shapes and solid colour blocking.

This extravagant outing was, in no small measure, influenced by the designer’s then muse and model Kirat Young, who first walked the ramp as a 19-year-old for Saint Laurent’s seminal Opéra des Ballets Russes collection in 1976. Young, who modelled for Saint Laurent for 13 years, brought with her stories of her travels to India, textile gifts and accoutrements that fed the designer’s idea of India.

And it was this 1982 line, which French fashion critics often termed as “the rajah line”, that finally made its way to the subcontinent in 1989. On November 12, Saint Laurent’s India-inspired garments finally had their royal tryst, walking the ramp in Delhi, at the Purana Qila, built by Sher Shah Suri (1486-1545). On November 19, a retinue of 40 local models showcased the designs at the Gateway of India in Mumbai, in a show choreographed by Bernard Trux. The setting may have been straight from a Saint Laurent reverie, where the models looked like they emerged out of the Arabian Sea through the arched Gateway and walked to the strains of Ravi Shankar’s sitar and music by the American composer Philip Glass.

And though the couturier never felt the need to visit India and experience its pomp and splendour first-hand—“I do not feel any need to go there. I’ve dreamed so much” he famously said of his Oriental obsession – his work continued to find inspiration in the country’s crafts, fabrics, colours and silhouettes. From his inaugural 1962 Spring-Summer collection, where the royal brocade jacket took a surprisingly feminine turn, to his last collection in 2002, where gold lame dresses drew on the pleats and pallu of the sari drape and walked as part of a retrospective show, Saint Laurent kept his enthralling imaginings of India alive. As the designer himself once said: “Fashion is like a party. Getting dressed is preparing to play a role.” And in his fantastical saga, the Indian princess met power dressing and always went for gold.

‘India in Fashion: The Impact of Indian Dress and Textiles on the Fashionable Imagination’

is curated by British author, journalist  and costume expert Hamish Bowles, and designed by Patrick Kinmonth with Rooshad Shroff. The exhibit will be on view at Pavilion 1, Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre, Mumbai, from April 3 to June 4, 2023.