Reading Aloud: The Beautiful Fall

Written by Alicia Drake

Drake exposes the lives of Karl Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent, two designers who “shared the same stage, but a different destiny.” Both Lagerfeld and Saint Laurent were visionaries in the business,tried to move away from their bourgeois pasts, but the similarities end there.

One worked for Balmain for a brief stint, while the other designed at Dior and already heir to the fashion house.

One chose to fall in love with a youth, while the other with his work.

One a “styliste,” the other a “creator.

For decades, the Lagerfeld and Saint Laurent crowds respected each other, but a schism between the groups still remained—an unspoken competitive air pushed them apart. The author does a phenomenal job chronicling the journeys of these two fashion legends. After reading, you’ll see how Lagerfeld and Saint Laurent greatly contributed to the fashion world as we know it today.