2017 is set to be a big year for the legacy of the legendary fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent. In the autumn, two museums dedicated entirely to Saint Laurent’s work and life will open in the two cities most important to the late genius: Paris and Marrakesh.

Yves Saint Laurent after a Saint Laurent Rive Gauche catwalk show.
Photo: © Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent.

The Parisian museum will be located in the former Fondation Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint Laurent, which has just been closed for renovations after hosting a dazzling solo exhibition dedicated to the Moroccan fashion designer Noureddine Amir.

Yves Saint Laurent at his desk in 1976.
Photo: © Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent, Paris/ Guy Marineau.

Sited in the historical premises of 5 Avenue Marceau, where Saint Laurent designed and created his iconic collections between 1974 and 2002, the new museum will tell the story of his career through a constantly updated display of the collection.

Short evening dress. Haute couture collection Fall-Winter 1970.
Photo: © Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent, Paris/ Guy Marineau.

The exhibition space, which when finished will be doubled in size, has been refurbished by stage designer Nathalie Crinière and interior designer Jacques Grange, who have collaborated on numerous previous projects of the foundation.

Yves Saint Laurent at Dar el Hanch.
Photo: © Pierre Bergé

The opening of the Paris museum will coincide with the one in Marrakesh, which will host the collection of the foundation, displayed across over 4,000 square meters. Saint Laurent and Bergé discovered the Moroccan capital in 1966 and bought a property there shortly after, and the city became a key spot in their careers and lives.

Yves Saint Laurent Museum in Marrakesh.
Photo: Studio KO.

The museum will be located on Rue Yves Saint Laurent, near the iconic Jardin Majorelle, a garden he and Pierre Bergé saved from redevelopment in 1980 and that has now become, with its museum dedicated to Berber culture, a major cultural site in Marrakesh welcoming almost 700,000 visitors every year.

Bougainvillea-embroidered capes Spring-Summer 1989 haute couture collection.
Photo: © Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent, Paris/ Guy Marineau.