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This Happened

This Happened—January 29: Yves Saint-Laurent Becomes A Star


On this day in 1962, the famous fashion designer presented his first personal couture collection in Paris at just 26 years old.

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What was special about Yves Saint-Laurent’s first show?

The show attracted the rich and famous, including the Countess of Paris, Princess Anne, the Baroness de Rothschild, Roland Petit and Zizi Jeanmaire, Geneviève Fath, Françoise Sagan, and various high-profile members of the fashion industry. Historically constrained by a severe silhouette, the female form disappeared under layers of clothing throughout his designs. The first piece that was presented, a pea coat worn with white pants, was called “the most beautiful collection since Chanel” by Life Magazine that season.

How did Yves Saint-Laurent get his start?

After working for Dior in his early adult life, he enlisted in the army. Upon his return, and after a lawsuit with Dior, he went his separate way along with his then partner, Pierre Bergé. Together, they started the Yves Saint Laurent YSL fashion house with funds from American millionaire J. Mack Robinson.

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Economy

How SVB Is Different Than Lehman — And Not Different Enough

The fall of Silicon Valley Bank revives memories of Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy. The two situations have some fundamental differences, but there is enough in common that the risks that SVB could spark a new global financial crisis is very real.

Photo of a person in front of a Silicon Valley Bank

A Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) branch office in Pasadena, California

Jean-Marc Vittori

-Analysis-

PARIS — In finance, brands can be the omens of disaster. On Monday, April 2, 2007, New Century Financial collapsed. The fall of this "financial institution of the new century," which had failed to properly assess risks, was the true starting point of the great financial crisis that culminated 18 months later with the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers.

On Friday, March 10, 2023, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) was shut down by U.S. authorities following the largest bank run in history. Its clients wanted to withdraw $42 billion in a single day.

The closure of the Silicon Valley bank was a result of disastrous management, but also from its central role in a start-up ecosystem that's been weakened by a scarcity of money.

The key question is: Is this closure the starting point of a new crisis?

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