First Safari Jacket

Yves Saint Laurent first introduced the safari jacket in his 1967 runway shows. However, it was a one-off design created for a photo-essay for Vogue (Paris) the following year that made the design famous and quickly turned it into a classic.

With the safari jacket, Saint Laurent continued to define his style, which borrowed from male codes of dress to revolutionize women’s fashion. He was inspired by both the uniforms worn by the Afrika Korps and, more broadly, the outfits worn by Occidental men in Africa. Made of cotton gabardine, the safari jacket was a comfortable piece suitable for hot summers. It perfectly embodied the spirit of freedom sparked by the 1960s as well as a new form of seduction. As early as 1969, the safari jacket was also available in a ready-to-wear version at the SAINT LAURENT rive gauche boutique. It was an immediate success.