The story — Musée Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech
Born in Oran in 1936, Yves Saint Laurent first discovered Marrakech in 1966 with his partner Pierre Bergé. From that trip on, Morocco became his laboratory of colour: pink, orange, green and blue, along with the fabrics of the kaftan, the djellaba and the burnous, all found their way into collections that changed the history of fashion.
The museum opened in October 2017, a few steps from the Jardin Majorelle, only weeks after Pierre Bergé’s death. It was designed by architects Karl Fournier and Olivier Marty of Studio KO and covers roughly four thousand square metres. Its façade is made of bricks the colour of Marrakech earth, laid in a pattern that evokes the warp and weft of woven cloth.
Inside, the permanent hall — kept deliberately dim — presents a rotating selection from a vast archive of thousands of haute couture garments, accessories and drawings. Pieces are rotated to protect them from light, so the experience changes from one visit to the next.
The building also contains a temporary exhibition hall devoted to art, photography and fashion, an auditorium, and a research library holding thousands of books on Berber culture, Islamic arts, botany and fashion, plus a café around a calm inner courtyard.
The Musée Yves Saint Laurent is one of the most visited museums in Marrakech and one of the best museums in Morocco for design lovers. The experience is complete with a walk through the neighbouring Jardin Majorelle, where the designer lived and where his ashes rest.
Don’t miss
- The brick façade inspired by woven fabric
- The permanent hall and its rotating couture pieces
- Temporary exhibitions on art and fashion
- The research library and inner courtyard
Photos
Some photos are illustrative.
