During the Algerian War in August 1960, Saint Laurent was called for compulsory military service. He lasted only 19 days before hazing and the strain of military life led to his admission to a hospital. While hospitalized, he learned that Dior had dismissed him and replaced him with Marc Bohan, a shock that aggravated his already fragile mental state. He was transferred to Val-de-Grâce military hospital, where he received psychoactive medication and electroshock therapy—treatment he later identified as the beginning of severe mental-health problems and addictions. His partner and future business ally Pierre Bergé arranged his release and helped him recover. Saint Laurent subsequently sued Dior for breach of contract and won the equivalent of approximately US$135,000, money that helped finance the creation of his own fashion house with investors including American businessman J. Mack Robinson and cosmetics company Charles of the Ritz. The episode transformed a humiliating dismissal into the legal and financial foundation of the YSL empire, while leaving a lasting imprint on accounts of the designer’s depression, substance dependence, and vulnerability to the pressures of couture.
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AI concept artworkArchive Record · 1960s
Nineteen Days in the Army: Saint Laurent’s Hazing, Hospitalization, and Legal Escape from Dior
Yves Saint Laurent, Dior, and Pierre Bergé / 1960s
During the Algerian War in August 1960, Saint Laurent was called for compulsory military service. He lasted only 19 days before hazing and the strain of military life led to his admission to a hospital. While hospitalized, he learned that Dior had dismissed him and replaced him with Marc Bohan, a shock that aggravated his already fragile mental state. He was transferred to Val-de-Grâce military hospital, where he received psychoactive medication and electroshock therapy—treatment he later identified as the beginning of severe mental-health problems and addictions. His partner and future business ally Pierre Bergé arranged his release and helped him recover. Saint Laurent subsequently sued Dior for breach of contract and won the equivalent of approximately US$135,000, money that helped finance the creation of his own fashion house with investors including American businessman J. Mack Robinson and cosmetics company Charles of the Ritz. The episode transformed a humiliating dismissal into the legal and financial foundation of the YSL empire, while leaving a lasting imprint on accounts of the designer’s depression, substance dependence, and vulnerability to the pressures of couture.
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