Catroux Betty

Muse and model. A constant presence in the atelier of Yves Saint-Laurent starting in the 1950s, she was destined to be, with her thin and nervous body, long straight hair, very long legs, and thin lips, the prototype of the Modern Woman: self-assured, at her ease in trousers, which were perhaps stolen from a man’s (or woman’s) wardrobe. Since that time she has remained one of the great friends and associates of Yves, along with other important icons, such as the rarefied Parisian (Loulou de la Falaise), the woman from the South (Paloma Picasso), the intellectual “comedienne” (Zizi Jeanmarie), and the “jolie madame” of perfect attitude and obscure desires (Catherine Deneuve). It is said that, in Betty’s case, the maestro was inspired for that entire part of the creative process which falls under the definition “masculin-feminin”: the “grain de poudre” smoking jacket worn on bare skin, the sailor’s caban in blue cloth, and the explorer’s safari jacket in khaki-colored cotton. It is significant that the first Saint-Laurent Collection without Yves Saint-Laurent, designed in 2000 by Tom Ford, after the acquisition of the brand by the Gucci Group, was dedicated to her: a line of smoking jackets and pantsuits worn by blonde models who around their neck had an orchid as a necklace. But Betty was not there. Faithful, as she is, and as she always has been, to Yves and to his “family.”