YES TO YVES

Indian fashion veteran David Abraham continues to be inspired by YSL8217;s designs of the 8217;60s and 8217;70s

Indian fashion veteran David Abraham continues to be inspired by YSL8217;s designs of the 8217;60s and 8217;70s
When i think of the one design element that has influenced my fashion sensibilities, I am led back to the time I was just getting interested in fashion. There wasn8217;t any one, specific thing about Yves Saint Laurent I liked. The entire attitude his designs stood for appealed to me. When I was still a student of fashion, I visitednbsp;New Yorknbsp;in 1983.nbsp;There, I had the opportunity of visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art that was hosting an exhibition on the 25 years of YSL. It was curated by Diana Vreeland and was the first museum exhibition devoted to a designer still alive. It was a complete eye-opener. That was the first time that I realised that it was not individual pieces that mattered so much as the sensibility or the attitude.

I am particularly fond of his works through the 1960s and the 1970s, which is when he had made his biggest contributions to fashion. The way he questioned set notions and subverted conventions was amazing. He was a couturist, yetnbsp;he wasnbsp;the first to incorporate what was happening on the streets8212;the beatnik movement, the student revolutions8212;emphasizing that fashion was no longer the preserve of a certain segment of the society. I was also impressed by his conviction to introduce classic black tuxedo jackets for women and his insistence that they be worn as eveningwear. This came at a time when women were still wearing gowns, so it was revolutionary. In fact, the tuxedo jacket became iconoclastic since, for the first time, it afforded women the same ease and freedom that men had in matters of eveningwear. YSL followednbsp;up the silhouette in every season since.nbsp;

I remember that at the retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum, they had divided the designs not according to chronology, but themes. If you saw all the tuxedo jackets together, or any of his recurring designs, you would not have been able to make out which was made when. This timelessness and the ability to transcend trends and make your own statements impressed me greatly. I stopped following his work after the Seventies because it was a refinement of the same ideals but vintage YSL for me is his work over those two decades, something that stays on with me even after so many years.

Paromita Chakrabarti

Paromita Chakrabarti is Senior Associate Editor at the The Indian Express. She is a key member of the National Editorial and Opinion desk and writes on books and literature, gender discourse, workplace policies and contemporary socio-cultural trends. Professional Profile With a career spanning over 20 years, her work is characterized by a "deep culture" approach—examining how literature, gender, and social policy intersect with contemporary life. Specialization: Books and publishing, gender discourse (specifically workplace dynamics), and modern socio-cultural trends. Editorial Role: She curates the literary coverage for the paper, overseeing reviews, author profiles, and long-form features on global literary awards. Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) Her recent writing highlights a blend of literary expertise and sharp social commentary: 1. Literary Coverage & Nobel/Booker Awards "2025 Nobel Prize in Literature | Hungarian master of apocalypse" (Oct 10, 2025): An in-depth analysis of László Krasznahorkai’s win, exploring his themes of despair and grace. "Everything you need to know about the Booker Prize 2025" (Nov 10, 2025): A comprehensive guide to the history and top contenders of the year. "Katie Kitamura's Audition turns life into a stage" (Nov 8, 2025): A review of the novel’s exploration of self-recognition and performance. 2. Gender & Workplace Policy "Karnataka’s menstrual leave policy: The problem isn’t periods. It’s that workplaces are built for men" (Oct 13, 2025): A viral opinion piece arguing that modern workplace patterns are calibrated to male biology, making women's rights feel like "concessions." "Best of Both Sides: For women’s cricket, it’s 1978, not 1983" (Nov 7, 2025): A piece on how the yardstick of men's cricket cannot accurately measure the revolution in the women's game. 3. Social Trends & Childhood Crisis "The kids are not alright: An unprecedented crisis is brewing in schools and homes" (Nov 23, 2025): Writing as the Opinions Editor, she analyzed how rising competition and digital overload are overwhelming children. 4. Author Interviews & Profiles "Fame is another kind of loneliness: Kiran Desai on her Booker-shortlisted novel" (Sept 23, 2025): An interview regarding The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny. "Once you’ve had a rocky and unsafe childhood, you can’t trust safety: Arundhati Roy" (Aug 30, 2025): A profile on Roy’s recent reflections on personal and political violence. Signature Beats Gender Lens: She frequently critiques the "borrowed terms" on which women navigate pregnancy, menstruation, and caregiving in the corporate world. Book Reviews: Her reviews often draw parallels between literature and other media, such as comparing Richard Osman’s The Impossible Fortune to the series Only Murders in the Building (Oct 25, 2025). ... Read More