The longstanding muse of Yves Saint Laurent, Loulou de la Falaise, died on Saturday, leaving a legacy of colourful glamour
LOULOU DE la Falaise, muse to Yves Saint Laurent and designer in her own right, died on Saturday at her home in the Vexin region of northwest France. She was 64.
Lean and beautiful, with a wedge of curly blond hair and a crackling laugh, de la Falaise was synonymous with the bohemian Left Bank world of Yves Saint Laurent, whom she met in 1968 at a tea party given by the designer Fernando Sanchez, a mutual friend.
Louise de la Falaise was born on May 4th, 1947, in England. Her mother, Maxime Birley, was a former model for Elsa Schiaparelli; her father, Alain de la Falaise, was a French count. Mark Birley, her uncle, founded Annabel’s nightclub in London.
After boarding school in England and a spell as a fashion editor in 1960s London, de la Falaise settled in New York and found work as a model. She also designed prints for Halston.
In 1966 she married Desmond FitzGerald, the Knight of Glin, promoter of Irish heritage and author of many books on landscape, gardens, painting and architecture.
The marriage lasted less than a year. Desmond FitzGerald himself died in September this year.
In 1977 de la Falaise married Thadee Klossowski de Rola, a son of the artist Balthus. They became one of the most glamorous couples of the era.
With her ability to mix colors and attitudes, from sentimental French to exotic North African, de la Falaise seemed the Saint Laurent ideal. His other significant muse was was Betty Catroux, an androgynous beauty whom Saint Laurent called his “twin sister”.
The women, who became close friends, appeared in a now-famous photograph with Saint Laurent at the 1969 opening of his London boutique, de la Falaise in a safari jacket and midi-skirt with a silk head scarf.
She went to work for Saint Laurant in 1972, designing jewellery and hats for his haute couture and ready-to-wear lines. She created as many as 2,000 pieces of jewellery a year and remained with the house until 2002, when Saint Laurent retired. He died in 2008.
In 2003 de la Falaise started her own label, which she sold in two Paris boutiques under her name and to stores such as Bergdorf Goodman in New York. Typical pieces in the clothing line included well-cut blazers in English tweeds, French sailor pants in linen, striped silk blouses with cheeky black lace edging, and knits in hard-to-find colors. The business eventually closed.
In 2007, de la Falaise began to make costume jewellery for Oscar de la Renta. She also created pieces for the Home Shopping Network.
“I’m consistent in my tastes,” de la Falaise said a few years ago, discussing the decoration of the high-ceilinged Left Bank flat she shared with Klossowski. “I like bright, multihued fabrics and colors. Anything can inspire me, whether it’s a journey or a crack in a wall.”
In addition to her husband, she is survived by their daughter, Anna. Her death was announced by the Pierre Berge-Yves Saint Laurent Foundation, which did not give a cause.
( New York Timesservice)
