De-construction of Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche fragrance campaign

Recently I have been discussing the concept of perfume a lot and putting together different macro-trends such as media, health and fitness which can influence narratives within a fragrance advert. Secondly I have been discussing specific stories within current fragrance adverts such as 'mythical goddess' 'unisex stories' or 'gothic romance (the dark side)'. However, after having a recent lecture, I realised that I had not yet put together a post that solely concentrated on analysing the ins and outs of one specific fragrance advert from a fashion brand and de-constructing the story behind it. Therefore, today I am going to de-construct the fragrance advert created by Yves Saint Laurent called Rive Gauche in the 1980's.

Firstly I wanted to discuss a bit of context about the brand Yves Saint Laurent which has been going since it was founded by the man himself Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé in July 1961. Yves Saint Laurent was originally the Haute Couture designer for Christian Dior after the designer's death in 1957 however, he was dismissed in 1960 due to compulsory military services. This certainly did not stop Laurent's desire to work in the fashion industry and therefore, a year later he started up his own brand under his own name. Yves Saint Laurent formed their first fragrance, Yves Saint Laurent Y in 1964. However, the brands most notable fragrances are probably Opium (1977), Paris (1983) and Rive Gauche (1971) which I am going to go into more detail about soon.

Within the market, Yves Saint Laurent's fragrances are normally priced within the £40+ price point depending on the specific perfume, as the brand places itself in the higher end of the market and therefore, their scents are more likely to be expensive.

"Chanel freed women, and I empowered them....I created the contemporary woman's wardrobe."-Yves Saint Laurent

Rive Gauche which was launched in 1971 is a perfume for young, independent women who seek freedom, individuality, intellectuality and who are 'very French'. In terms of themes arguably the fragrance goes into the categories of modern, honesty and sophistication due to its powerful nature and portrayal of a dominant women with new values. Furthermore, although this advert is from the 80's as the perfume was created in the 70's it arguably represents a working women when career aspirations for females were becoming a lot more common and the desire to live in a metropolitan society was expanding. Therefore, this is also something that carried on into the bold 80's decade.

Muses for the brand

As the master of tailoring himself due to his experience in haute couture, Yves Saint Laurent was able to find a balance between both male and female influenced attires. Therefore, for his garments and fragrances he used muses such as the model and fashion icon, Betty Catroux who possessed androgynous values and a Parisian tomboy style throughout the 60's, 70's and still today. Another one of Yves Saint Laurent's muses was Loulou de la Falaise who shared the same vision as the designer whilst working alongside him in the brand's atelier and therefore, became a key influence on building the brand's image and values.


Betty Catroux during the seventies.


Betty Catroux, Yves Saint Laurent and Loulou de la Falaise at the opening of Yves Saint Laurent's Rive Gauche boutique in London in 1969

Bottle and Packaging

As for the bottle and the packaging of Rive Gauche, it is rather androgynous, minimalistic and boyish due to the colour blue which is traditionally associated with males in many different contexts. It is far from what you would expect a female fragrance bottle to look like and appears to look more like a male aftershave bottle. Therefore, arguably this use of colour demonstrates the movement and emancipation of women during the seventies and the focus women had on gaining the same sort of careers that men already had during this period and pushing equality of gender.

The colour blue arguably represents stability, loyalty, confidence and truth which matches the exact idea behind this perfume by Yves Saint Laurent and his vision of women.









Peer and Sector influence

In terms of the influence for the shaping and colouring of the fragrance bottle although this perfume is not from the high end market arguably, Yves Saint Laurent's fragrance bottle has certain physical similarities to Avon's Moonwind Cologne mist scent. This scent was created during the same period of the 60's-70's and although there may have been no intentions for the similarity it still demonstrates that Avon were also trying to achieve the same masculine approach for their female consumers in this period and therefore, it was arguably a discrete trend.


Avon Moonwind Cologne Mist

Dress/Make-up/Hair

As for the styling of the women in the specific advert I have chosen for Rive Gauche, the women is seen to be wearing a trademark tailored suit by the brand which provides emphasis on the rise of the power suit for women everywhere. However, it is in the colour grey. By using the colour grey, this arguably attracts so much more attention to the colour blue which is used for the perfume bottle and the telephone which is placed in the hand of the model. By drawing attention to the telephone this arguably implies that the women is currently at work or engaged in professional business and promotes the idea that women of society can access this lifestyle and also feel of a certain higher status whilst wearing the brand's perfume. Another aspect which has been coloured blue is the hanker-chief in the pocket of the women's blazer which again symbolizes masculinity within the advert.

Even the short hairstyle that the model has in the advert portrays this vision of women rebelling against their expectations during the latter part of the 20th century and wearing styles which would arguably be found not as attractive or traditionally feminine.

However, one thing which I do think is rather contrasting about the advert is the model's make-up. In comparison to her attire and hairstyle, her make up still appears to be very feminine, innocent and pretty promoting the message that a women can still look good whilst she is at work. Therefore, there is still an element of glamour within the advert. Furthermore, due to her make-up, the model looks extremely youthful and therefore, this signifies an image of a healthy, fresh looking women.

Personality

In terms of personality and provenance, this period was a time when society was seeing a flourish of androgyny and de-polarisation between the genders within media, music, television and fashion. For instance, another musician who was laying the foundations for gender fluidity in the 70's and 80's was the singer, Annie Lennox. Although she was not an exact influence for the brand image, Annie Lennox was known for her activism in politics and women's fashion which was especially symbolised by her wear of masculine tailored pant suits and short spiky dyed hair to make a revolutionary statement in the music industry.



Culture and Provenance

However, although Annie Lennox was challenging the norms in the 70's/80's that's not to say that this sort of style was not being shaped well before this period. The earliest known form of androgyny in fashion and culture is known to have been in Ancient Greece from as early as 4th Century BC. The Greek God Aphroditus (a male version of the Goddess Aphrodite) looked exactly like a woman and had all of the physical appearances of a female by wearing the same style of clothing and hairstyle as the goddess Aphrodite. However, it was known that the Greek God actually possessed Hermaphrodite qualities and therefore, had male respiratory parts. Culturally, it was a tradition for men and women in the society of Athens to regularly come together in awe of the Greek god to swap both clothing and traditional gender roles and celebrate the concept of androgyny.

Statue of Aphroditus