The Yves Saint Laurent Museum dedicates an exhibition to Betty Catroux

Tall, skinny, blonde, charming and bold. When, during an evening in 1967 at New Jimmy's, Yves Saint Laurent's eyes looked at Betty Catroux, it was the beginning of an endless and symbiotic relationship. He called her his female double, she with her androgynous beauty inspired his most iconic creations: the tuxedo, the safari jacket, the jumpsuit, the trench coat, the pantsuit.

She's perfect in my clothes. Just what I like. Long, long, long.

Yves declared while Betty replied:

I’ve always been captivated by what’s masculine. Always wore jeans, a man’s jacket… I don’t feel like a girl or a boy, but more in a seductive position when dressed in boy’s clothes.

Together they shaped the history of fashion.

The exhibition Féminin Singulier, curated by Anthony Vaccarello, which will take place from 3 March to 11 October at the Yves Saint Laurent Museum in Paris, evokes the figure of the iconic socialite. Around 180 haute couture dresses, many of which were catwalk prototypes, and 138 pieces that Saint Laurent designed for his ready-to-wear line Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche, all from Catroux's wardrobe explore the relationship between the muse and the designer, showing not only how much Betty embodied Saint Laurent's personal ideal, but how much she fuelled his creativity.
The exhibition is completed by many documents and images, shots by the most important artists, such as Helmut Newton, Irving Penn, Steven Meisel and Jeanloup Sieff.

She lives and breathes Saint Laurent. An allure, a mystery, an almost nefarious aspect, an elusive yet desirable nature, all that underlies the house’s aura, and you understand the magnitude of it when you meet Betty.

Vaccarello wanted the model as the protagonist of SL's FW08 campaign and personally selected 50 drawings in the exhibition that tell how much Catroux's style has been and still is decisive for the aesthetics of the Maison.