YSL Movie 'l’Amour Fou' released on DVD

Today sees the release on DVD of l’Amour Fou (Crazy Love), the documentary film which grants us intimate access to the life of the genius designer by following Bergé – Saint Laurent’s partner of fifty years – as he mourns the death of his lover and prepares himself to auction off the private collection that he had worked on together with Saint Laurent for the best part of fifty years. Using over 2,000 hours of footage taken throughout the designer’s life and in the aftermath of his death, director Pierre Thoretton pays tribute to a love story that is outstanding for its longevity, its passion, and its long-lasting impact on the fashion world.

The auction was one of the most monumental ever staged by Christie’s, and it included works by Picasso, Brancusi and Goya, as well as one painting by Henri Matisse which fetched record 32m euros. At the time, M. Bergé had said that his decision to sell the collection – and to donate a portion of the proceeds to set up a foundation for Aids research – was because after Saint Laurent’s death, "it has lost the greater part of its significance".

In advance of the film’s release on DVD the film was shown last Thursday at a private screening by Test Presents in Bethnal Green’s Town Hall Hotel. Host for the night Danielle Scutt said of the designer, “I feel he had an understanding of how a woman wishes to feel as well as they way they want to look, and he took the approach not only of designing a beautiful dress to be seen in but a dress that would embody the way in which she would feel whilst wearing it.”