Dedicated to the work of the eponymous French fashion designer, the museum will house an important selection from the unique collection of the ‘Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent Foundation’ comprising 5,000 items of clothing and 15,000 haute couture accessories as well as tens of thousands of sketches and assorted objects, all currently archived in Paris.
Situated on Rue Yves Saint Laurent, adjacent to the famous Jardin Majorelle, a major tourist attraction in Marrakech with some 700,000 visitors annually, the purpose-built museum spans over 4,000 m² of which some 400 m² is a permanent exhibition space showcasing Yves Saint Laurent’s work; there is also a 130-seat auditorium, a bookshop, café-restaurant with terrace and research library housing 5,000 books.
Built of terracotta, concrete and an earthen coloured terrazzo with Moroccan stone fragments, the building blends harmoniously with its surroundings. Exceptionally precise methods for conserving textiles have been put in place by the ‘Pierre Bergé- Yves Saint Laurent Foundation’ which has worked for over a decade towards the archiving of the late designer’s work.
In collaboration with specialists in preventative conservation, the Marrakech museum will feature an air conditioning system complete with temperature and moisture control to ensure that each item, be it a couture dress from the collection on show in the exhibition space or a rare book in the basement archives, remains preserved in perfect archival condition.