# Yves Saint Laurent artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/yves-saint-laurent/
Profile generated: 2026-05-07T03:52:00.000Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1936-08-01
- Death date: 2008-06-01
- Nationality: French
- Movements: Haute Couture, 20th-century fashion design
- Common media: Haute couture garments, Ready-to-wear fashion, Fashion illustration and design sketches, Accessories and jewelry design

## About Yves Saint Laurent

Yves Saint Laurent (1936–2008) was a French fashion designer born in Oran, Algeria, who became one of the defining creative figures of twentieth-century couture. After rising to lead the House of Christian Dior at just twenty-one, he established his own label in 1962 and spent four decades reshaping how luxury fashion intersects with modern culture. His work is held in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and his personal art collection—amassed over a lifetime of connoisseurship—set records when it was sold at auction in 2009. Collectors, curators, and fashion historians continue to study his archive for its influence on silhouette, color, and the democratization of high style.

## Common works and media

Collectors and appraisers most frequently encounter Yves Saint Laurent through haute couture garments and ready-to-wear pieces spanning the 1960s to early 2000s, original fashion illustrations and design sketches, handbags and small leather goods (notably the Muse and Tribute lines), costume jewelry, scarves, and fragrances. Photography and campaign prints from iconic YSL shoots also circulate at auction. Works produced during Saint Laurent's personal creative direction of the house carry particular collector interest.

## Market and appraisal context

Yves Saint Laurent is one of the most liquid designer names at auction worldwide. Appraisily's auction record index tracks 1,079 total lots, of which 805 carry realized prices spanning from February 2005 through May 2026. The price distribution is wide: the recorded minimum is $20, the 25th percentile is $160, the median sits at $425, the 75th percentile reaches $1,234, and the observed maximum is $168,750. This long tail reflects the gulf between mass-market accessories and rare haute couture runway pieces. Recent auction activity remains robust, with 267 lots in the trailing twelve months against 287 in the prior period—a modest but stable contraction that suggests ongoing healthy demand rather than a softening market. Ten auction houses appear among the most active venues, with Bonhams, Christie's, Artcurial, and Tajan anchoring the European hautecouture circuit, while Leonard Joel and Gibson's represent strong Antipodean demand. The 24 most recent lots illustrate the market's segmentation: haute couture garments with documented provenance (runway prototypes, named ateliers, final-collection attribution) regularly clear €1,000–€3,500 at Bonhams; accessories such as leather goods, scarves, and costume jewelry cluster between $100 and $600 across multiple currencies and houses; and unique works like the 1983 "Les quatre saisons" multiple realized €16,000 at Piasa.

## Auction-house-backed market evidence

Yves Saint Laurent is one of the most liquid designer names at auction worldwide. Appraisily's auction record index tracks 1,079 total lots, of which 805 carry realized prices spanning from February 2005 through May 2026. The price distribution is wide: the recorded minimum is $20, the 25th percentile is $160, the median sits at $425, the 75th percentile reaches $1,234, and the observed maximum is $168,750. This long tail reflects the gulf between mass-market accessories and rare haute couture runway pieces. Recent auction activity remains robust, with 267 lots in the trailing twelve months against 287 in the prior period—a modest but stable contraction that suggests ongoing healthy demand rather than a softening market. Ten auction houses appear among the most active venues, with Bonhams, Christie's, Artcurial, and Tajan anchoring the European hautecouture circuit, while Leonard Joel and Gibson's represent strong Antipodean demand. The 24 most recent lots illustrate the market's segmentation: haute couture garments with documented provenance (runway prototypes, named ateliers, final-collection attribution) regularly clear €1,000–€3,500 at Bonhams; accessories such as leather goods, scarves, and costume jewelry cluster between $100 and $600 across multiple currencies and houses; and unique works like the 1983 "Les quatre saisons" multiple realized €16,000 at Piasa.

### Appraisal notes

An Appraisily appraisal for a Yves Saint Laurent item would begin with high-resolution photographs and a physical inspection of labels, tags, stitching, and construction quality to distinguish haute couture from ready-to-wear or licensed production. Dimensions, material composition (silk, leather, lurex, passementerie, etc.), and any signature or branding are recorded. Condition grading follows standardized criteria appropriate to fashion and textiles, noting alterations, staining, fabric degradation, or missing components. Provenance documentation—original receipts, collection attribution, runway or editorial history—is noted when available and can materially affect value, as demonstrated by Bonhams lots that specify atelier, model number, and season. The appraiser then selects comparable lots from the Appraisily auction-record database, filtering by category (haute couture garment, accessory, illustration), era (1960s–1970s vs. 1990s–2002), and condition, and cross-references realized prices across houses including Bonhams, Christie's, Artcurial, and Piasa. The final valuation opinion is expressed as a range grounded in the observed distribution, with the median ($425) and 75th percentile ($1,234) anchoring typical accessory and garment values, and documented haute couture provenance pushing results well into the four- and five-figure range.

### Valuation factors

- Haute couture versus ready-to-wear: pieces with documented couture provenance (atelier name, model number, season) trade at a significant premium to unlabeled or Rive Gauche ready-to-wear
- Designer-tenure dating: items produced during Yves Saint Laurent's personal creative direction (1962–2002) carry stronger collector interest than post-2002 brand production under subsequent creative directors
- Runway and prototype status: lots identified as runway prototypes or show pieces (e.g., Bonhams lot with 'Prototype du défilé – Modèle n°61 – Atelier Renée') command the highest per-lot prices in the dataset (€3,500)
- Final-collection premium: pieces from the Printemps-Été 2002 collection—Saint Laurent's last—carry documented premiums (€2,000 for a single gown at Bonhams, January 2025)
- Original labels, tags, and documentation: intact internal labels, YSL-branded tags, and original house documentation materially strengthen attribution and value
- Condition and wear: fashion pieces are condition-sensitive; fabric degradation, alterations, staining, or missing components can reduce value substantially
- Currency and venue: results span EUR, USD, GBP, AUD, and CHF across houses in France, the UK, Australia, Germany, Switzerland, and the US; currency normalization is essential for comparable analysis
- Category dispersion: accessories and scarves cluster in the $100–$600 range, while couture garments with strong provenance regularly exceed $1,000 and can reach five figures

### Collector notes

- The Yves Saint Laurent auction market is deep and internationally distributed, which benefits both buyers and sellers. With over 1,000 recorded lots and active results at Bonhams, Christie's, Artcurial, Tajan, Piasa, and regional houses, liquidity is strong and comparable data is plentiful. Collectors seeking value should note that accessories (scarves, costume jewelry, small leather goods) enter the market frequently at accessible price points (median $425), while true haute couture garments with documented provenance are scarcer and priced accordingly. The strongest results in the recent record attach to pieces with specific collection attribution—named season, atelier, model number, or runway status. Buyers should verify that any "Yves Saint Laurent" piece dates from the designer's tenure (pre-2002) rather than the later Saint Laurent brand era, as the distinction affects both cultural significance and market value. The 7% year-over-year decline in lot volume (287 to 267) is modest and likely reflects normal market fluctuation rather than softening demand.

### Market caveats

- The dataset aggregates results across multiple currencies (EUR, USD, GBP, AUD, CHF) without normalization; collectors and appraisers should apply appropriate exchange rates when comparing lots
- Three recent lots lack realized prices (unsold or results not yet reported), which may slightly understate or distort the observed price distribution
- Category classification in the source data is sparse (most lots carry null categories); the commonAuctionCategories above are inferred from lot titles and the existing artist profile rather than structured category fields
- The dataset does not distinguish between original Yves Saint Laurent haute couture, licensed YSL Rive Gauche ready-to-wear, and posthumous Saint Laurent brand production; specialist authentication is essential
- The observed maximum price ($168,750) is an outlier that likely reflects a unique or historically significant piece and should not be used as a benchmark for typical items
- Auction-house results reflect hammer prices or reported prices including premium inconsistently; exact premium inclusion varies by house and is not standardized in the dataset

### Market evidence sources

- Appraisily auction record index: https://appraisily.com/api/scraper-search/artists/yves-saint-laurent/seo-profile?recentLimit=24&relatedLimit=0
- Invaluable / Piasa: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-yves-saint-laurent-1936-2008-les-quatre-saisons-1983-166-c-b25f645cda
- Invaluable / Bonhams: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-yves-saint-laurent-collection-haute-couture-printemps-ete-1996-robe-du-soir-en-mousseline-de-soie-et-lurex-rouge-et-or-creation-yves-saint-laurent-prototype-du-defile-modele-n-61-atelier-renee-mannequ-358-c-30a4aa483b
- Invaluable / Bonhams: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-yves-saint-laurent-collection-haute-couture-printemps-ete-2002-robe-du-soir-longue-en-mousseline-de-soie-rouge-creation-yves-saint-laurent-la-derniere-collection-363-c-e52444c81a
- Invaluable / Bonhams: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-yves-saint-laurent-collection-haute-couture-automne-hiver-1994-robe-droite-en-agneau-velours-bleu-nuit-349-c-d8f47858e3
- Invaluable / Bonhams: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-yves-saint-laurent-collection-haute-couture-circa-1968-ceinture-en-passementerie-lurex-or-et-cabochons-de-pate-de-verre-createur-roger-scemama-173-c-ac5419c819
- Invaluable / Kinghams Auctioneers: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-yves-saint-laurent-a-medium-sunset-chain-handbag-532-c-3d64c62a44
- Invaluable / Das Kunst- und Auktionshaus Kastern: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-yves-saint-laurent-silk-scarf-in-red-and-navy-blue-1865-c-688e11eaa2
- Invaluable / Hill Auction Gallery: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-yves-saint-laurent-80s-enamel-pearl-panel-bracelet-3-c-925f782b6c
- Invaluable / Leonard Joel: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-yves-saint-laurent-a-brooch-107a-c-0acc1faf9d
- Invaluable / ARTESIA: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-yves-saint-laurent-rive-gauche-240-c-75cba2d30b

## Appraisily data basis

This Appraisily artist page combines identity research from museum, library authority, and biographical sources with auction records, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. Entity facts are grounded in sources including the Library of Congress Name Authority File, VIAF, Wikidata, the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), and the Museum of Modern Art. Market observations are based on platform auction data and publicly available auction-house records.

## Sources

- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n83181597
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q171556
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/84274414/
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/27126
- RKD — Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/227628
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yves_Saint_Laurent_(designer)