Yves Saint Laurent’s comic strip “Naughty Lulu” exhibition at mYSLm

MARRAKECH - The Musée Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech (mYSLm) announced last month a new collaborative project between the mYSLm and the Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris: the exhibition Yves Saint Laurent’s comic strip: Naughty Lulu [La Vilaine Lulu]. Co-curated by Serena Bucalo-Mussely and Domitille Eblé, head of collections and manager of the graphic art collections, respectively, at the Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris.

In 1956, the twenty-year-old Yves Henri Donat Mathieu-Saint-Laurent was already working as an assistant to Christian Dior, sketching ideas for upcoming collections. In the evenings, one of the couture house’s employees, Jean-Pierre Frère, would have fun cross-dressing: “Often, after six o'clock, a Christian Dior employee would ‘dress up.’ One evening he pulled his pants up to his knees. I remember he wore long black socks. In the booth used by the fashion models, he found a red tulle petticoat and a [Venetian] gondolier’s hat. I was impressed by the stubbornly sly appearance of this very short man and said to him, “You are naughty Lulu [Tu es la vilaine Lulu]”.

This anecdote gave birth to the character of Naughty Lulu [La Vilaine Lulu], who would inspire Yves Saint Laurent to create his mischievous comic strip.

The comic strip’s readers follow the adventures of a little girl, Naughty Lulu, over the course of twenty-four stories, such as “Lulu at school” or “The Lulu year.” Always dressed in the same way, she is accompanied by her pet, a white rat. The dialogues are filled with her favorite expressions and repurposed words dear to her, such as “Pluck” and “Schmuck.”

A large number of the original Naughty Lulu [La Vilaine Lulu] plates created by Yves Saint Laurent are in the collection of the Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris. Vogue (Paris) published the first article on “La Vilaine Lulu” in August 1964. Two editions of the comic strips were released in 1967 by the Tchou publishing house and reissued in 2003; an abridged version was published by Éditions de La Martinière in 2010. A Japanese edition was published by Kawade Shobo Shinsha in 2009.

The album La Vilaine Lulu is on sale at the bookshop of the Musée Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech at the price of 320 dhs.

A limited, luxury edition of La Vilaine Lulu―ten copies presented in a large, elegant slipcase―are also on sale at the Musée Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech bookshop; price on request.

The exhibition is on view at the mYSLm’s photography gallery from July 11, 2024.