The models Nina Heimlich and Diana Gartner, photographed backstage by Carlos Muñoz-Yagüe at Yves Saint Laurent’s farewell show, in Paris, January 2002.

Saint Laurent backstage at his spring-summer 1990 haute couture show, in Paris, January 1990.

*Top,* Claudia Schiffer and Pierre Bergé backstage at the spring-summer 1997 haute couture show, in Paris, January 1997; *above,* Saint Laurent backstage at his spring-summer 1990 show.

The model Laura Lenee backstage at the autumn-winter 1989–90 haute couture show, in Paris, July 1989.

Saint Laurent in his studio on Avenue Marceau, in Paris, July 1997.

The model Stella Tennant during a fitting on Avenue Marceau, January 1997.

*Top,* the model Alix Mouret and Saint Laurent during a fitting on Avenue Marceau, January 1997; *above,* Kate Moss backstage at the spring-summer 1993 haute couture show, in Paris, January 1993.

Saint Laurent, a studio assistant, and head seamstress Renée Cassart during a fitting with the model Karen Mulder on Avenue Marceau, January 1997.

A mannequin in the Avenue Marceau studio of Jean-Pierre Derbord, Saint Laurent’s head of tailoring, April 1997.

All About Yves

A new coffee-table book offers an intimate glimpse into daily life at Yves Saint Laurent’s studio, as captured by the son of one of the French designer’s closest confidantes

Alongside the elegant Yves Saint Laurent, one often saw the slick, dark-haired Anne-Marie Muñoz—like her boss, always dressed in black. Though Muñoz remained mostly on the sidelines, she ran Saint Laurent’s design studio for 40 years and was one of his closest confidantes.

Muñoz began her career at Christian Dior, where she was hired as an apprentice in 1951, at 19, thanks to the recommendation of her well-connected uncle, the composer Henri Sauguet. Those were high-flying years at the house, its astonishing overnight success due to Dior’s 1947 “New Look” collection, with its rounded shoulders, cinched waists, and full skirts. Muñoz, however, was viewed as a spoiled apprentice who couldn’t sew. She spent her first seasons re-arranging rolls of fabric in the storerooms and discreetly taking sewing lessons.