YSL

Yves Saint Laurent, who retired in 2002, changed the way women dressed when he launched his label in 1962. He put them in mannish pant-suits with square shoulders, smoking jackets, safari jackets, and tuxedos, but softened the androgyny with billowy peasant blouses and fitted, flouncy couture gowns in dramatic colors.

New designer Stefano Pilati is bringing it all back home, returning to those YSL classics and making them staples of the eveningwear and ready-to-wear collection. Everyone from long-standing fans like YSL muse Betty Catroux and Catherine Deneuve wear YSL, to actresses like Renee Zellweger and Chloe Sevigny. The current designer is Stefano Pilati, formerly Tom Ford’s chief deputy of the YSL Rive Gauche ready-to-wear collection, and a designer for Miu Miu and Giorgio Armani prior to that.