The IMAGE staffers share what’s on their summer wishlists
The IMAGE staffers share what’s on their summer wishlists

Sarah Gill

WIN a €150 gift voucher to spend on AVOCA’s new summer collections
WIN a €150 gift voucher to spend on AVOCA’s new summer collections

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Real Weddings: Emma and Gavin’s picturesque castle wedding in Co Mayo
Real Weddings: Emma and Gavin’s picturesque castle wedding in Co Mayo

Shayna Sappington

If I Knew Then What I Know Now: Complete Harmony owner Gail Bovenizer
If I Knew Then What I Know Now: Complete Harmony owner Gail Bovenizer

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The ultimate family weekend away in Monaghan
The ultimate family weekend away in Monaghan

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Alma Kelliher: ‘Success in the arts can look different to success in other fields’
Alma Kelliher: ‘Success in the arts can look different to success in other fields’

Sarah Gill

How one of Ireland’s most iconic mills has evolved for the modern day
How one of Ireland’s most iconic mills has evolved for the modern day

Cliodhna Prendergast

WIN a night in a five-star luxury London hotel (plus afternoon tea for two)
WIN a night in a five-star luxury London hotel (plus afternoon tea for two)

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This Glasthule home is an urban seaside sanctuary
This Glasthule home is an urban seaside sanctuary

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6 wines to try this summer, according to an expert
6 wines to try this summer, according to an expert

Michelle Lawlor

Image / Editorial

True Grit


By IMAGE
16th Mar 2014
True Grit

Anyone looking for simple fashion porn, beware: Yves Saint Laurent is so much more than your average fashion biopic. Yes, there’s the couture; the inspiring moments of creation. But there’s also the gritty reality that underlies the work of a genius. Infidelity, depression, addiction – the world of YSL was so much more than the designs. And it’s all told with just the right level of respect in this wonderful film by French director Jalil Lespert.

The film takes us from the designer’s beginnings in Paris in 1957, when a 21-year-old Yves Saint Laurent took the helm at the house of Dior following the death of Christian Dior. He meets his future lover and business partner, Pierre Berg?, who from that point on continues as the designer’s biggest supporter throughout his work and life and helps get YSL’s own fashion house off the ground. The film follows the designer as he shakes up the world of fashion, through the 1960s and 70s, while battling his personal demons, until his death in 2008, and features some of the original clothing from the YSL haute couture archives.

The highlight, however, is the film’s star, Pierre Niney – a perfect Yves, and his co-star Guillaume Gallienne, who together gave a convincing portrayal of a mutually devoted couple battling their jealousies and demons while maintaining a true love for one another.

Yves Saint Laurent is released in selected cinemas from March 21.

Meg Walker