THE SAINT LAURENT MUSE - C. W. Gortner
William Morrow Books
ISBN: 978-0-06-331983-7
March 2025
Fiction

Paris - 1970s

Loulou de la Falaise is looking for a new life after a failed early marriage. Leaving an unsatisfying job in New York City, Loulou sets off to Paris where haute couture and ready-to-wear are setting the fashion world afire. Soon, the wild lifestyles of those in the business, including drugs, all night parties, and sex consume Loulou's time. And then she meets the leading designer of the times, Yves Saint Laurent, and her life gets even more frenetic.

One of the reasons why Yves is so intrigued with Loulou is her own bohemian style. She is unaffected by the glamour of the fashion industry, and pursues her own ideas, and he is dazzled by her casual, but personal choices in clothing. Although the lifestyle that they continue to survive in with the wild parties, and outlandish behavior, Yves considers Loulou to be a valuable muse in his work.

With all of the new ideas coming from the Saint Laurent lines, other designers, like Karl Lagerfeld, begin to resent someone they consider an upstart. There are heated disagreements, and rivalries get very serious, especially when Yves begins a secret liaison with someone close to Lagerfeld. Loulou is also testing her reputation when she falls in love with another woman's boyfriend.

THE SAINT LAURENT MUSE is an inside peek into a time when fashion, imaginative designers, and "It" girls controlled the runways of glamorous Paris in the 1970s.

Jani Brooks