NY Times article: Marc Bohan, Who Oversaw the Dior Look for Decades, Dies at 97 Some beautiful photos and some details I didn't know. Like that Bohan took over Dior in 1960 from Yves St Laurent because St Laurent had been called up by the French army? "The post was supposed to be temporary, Women’s Wear Daily wrote in 2007, but it became permanent after Mr. Saint Laurent — who would go on to launch his own fashion powerhouse — suffered a nervous breakdown during his military service."
The NY Times is being kind. YSL was fired primarily for a bad collection that didn't sell, although the collection was too far ahead of its time with black leather croc boots, balaclavas, and knitted turtle necks in 1960, which looked more like 1964 (YSL was borrowing from the street - Beatniks). Dior would have been able to buy YSL out of his military service, but they used it as an excuse to get rid of him. YSl sued Dior via Pierre Berge and won enough money to start his own fashion house in 1961.
I always heard and read the story the way Jonathan presents it. Somehow I thought Bohan passed away about 10 years ago. What very long life he had.
