The Picture | The Story

"This image has a history. One night in 2008, I was having dinner at Mathi's in Paris. The owner, Gerard Nanty, told me that Yves Saint-Laurent very much liked this portrait and that he would be happy if I could make a print for him. This was the last studio portrait he ever did and it touched me that he kept the memory as I did. Naturally I sent him a print. A few days later, I received a bunch of white roses with a personal note from him. The following week, I learned about his death. The petals from the white rose were falling on my table like so many tears.”

Jean-Marie Périer owes his fame to his iconic photographs of The Beatles, Rolling Stones, and other artists of the 60’s generation who treated him as a friend and opened up a world of unique artistic possibilities. He was the first to ask them to pose on specially designed sets, putting them into scenes of his choice. In 1990, after spending ten years in LA and NY directing commercials, Jean-Marie returned home to Paris where ELLE magazine gave him carte blanche to produce a series of images, entitled “The World of Fashion Designers” that presented the glamour and elegance of the fashion industry and its icons. Offered almost unlimited resources, Périer reconstructs the décor surrounding the designers to create a scene that reflects their personal universes.