I was quite excited to wear all my colourful summer dresses so this was the perfect way to show you Morocco. And lets start with a bang – both dress wise and Morocco wise. This fantastic Yves Saint Laurent Museum opened in Marrakesh recently and this was one of the first items on my list of to-do things in Morocco. I am quite the YSL fan.
I am one of those people who love dressing up on holidays. But dressing in a way I usually wouldn’t in London and thats the fun! Along with this super soft jumper dress, Tobi sent me this maxi dress which I had to wear for my most fashionable outing in Marrakesh!
Outfit details: Maxi lace dress is from Tobi (still available!), black leather slippers from Sevdah, bucket bag from Redo, hat from H&M, shades from Rayban and red pendant from Heathergems.
The museum has three main spaces:
- Permanent exhibit: this is a permanent exhibit of Saint Laurent’s work in a chronological manner. Unfortunately, you cannot take photographs in this part of the museum since this has a lot of photographs and clothing from his collection. The only photograohs I found were from Suzy Menkes’ Instagram account. One thing I noticed is a lot of the clothing is actually not the original clothes but replica items made since some are really old brittle clothes. Walking though the room there are so many dresses I recognised. I may not have known a particular dress was by YSL but you see these iconic dresses and its a pleasant surprise.
What surprised me was the jewellery. I had no idea how important jewellery was for the YSL house and honestly, actually didn’t know they made jewellery. A lot of it is fun, easy, costumy jewellery which I love. Nothing understated and delicate here.
2. Temporary exhibit: There is a specific room for temporary exhibits. When we went the exhibit that was on was the ‘Sculptural Dresses of Naureddine Amir’ which are breathtaking. Luckily photography was allowed in this room and I took advantage of that. You may remember seeing some Instagram stories I posted from this as well. The clothing here is very avant-garde and almost intimidating and probably would not look out of place in a Game of Thrones episode. Even though he is a not a particularly fashion obsessed, DJ enjoyed this immensely as well and it is easy to be captivated by it. For myself, I love how the YSL museum is providing a platform for young and lesser known (but supremely talented) designers using the YSL name and showing visitors something fresh and different.
3. Photography exhibit: the third aspect is a set of photographs shown including the famous YSL Love logo.
Gift shop and cafe: we spent some time in the cafe just to sit around and as you can see from the pictures, its a lovely space. Beware its quite expensive – especially compared to most other places in Morocco although I guess this is expected. The gift shop is superbly stocked. You can get some super cheap souvenir like a postcard (like I did) but also get jewellery, scarves, books etc.
The Museum: the museum, the building itself is quite spectacular. I mean that in itself is quite an exhibit. Also as someone who is used to the old, heavy and beautiful buildings housing museums like you have in Europe, this museum going experience is a refreshing change. The building is low, lots of gardens and plants around, airy with huge windows. Its just lovely to even walk around in. And the best part about it is the relevance the building has to YSL – it was his home and workshop in Morocco which is now turned into a museum for his (and other designers) work. Its just the perfect setting.
Practical information: you can get all information on the museum from their Yves Saint Laurent Museum website. Now I went to Marrakesh during a major tourist season and the lines to the museum and gardens were insane. A tip would be to go to the museum first and get combined tickets for the garden and museum so then you can go straight to the gardens after your museum visit, without having to queue up for the gardens again. Our original plan had been to see the gardens and museum on the same day but we just didn’t have the time after queuing up for so long for the museum.
Bottomline is add the the Yves Saint Laurent Museum to your list if you ever find yourself in Marrakesh! Hope you enjoyed the post and are waiting with baited breath for the next 6 dresses! Fashion and travel is a no brainer and my favourite combination so I am super kicked about this series. You can also check out all our other travel posts. Satarupa’s Paris post and my South Africa post are especially recommended. I posted a lot of photos and videos on our Instagram stories/ highlights and Instagram account so make sure you are following us so you can take a look.
Tobi sent me the dress I am wearing in the picture.
Thank you to DJ for the photos.
– Anisha
How awesome! Love all the designs! And you look fab in that lace dress
Thank you so much Stephanie – I was waiting to wear this dress!