THE fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent once remarked that if he had been born in Paris he would have been an artist.

Not only would this have been a loss to haute couture and the clothes industry, it would have set back the achievement of women’s social freedom.

The greatest designer of the 20th century, he devised for them a whole new wardrobe, not least the now ubiquitous trouser suit.

Aged 18, freshly arrived in Paris from Algeria, possessing a precocious talent for sketching and designing dresses, he embraced modern art and theatre, which both became inspiration for some of his most innovative creations.

Theatre, here styled spectaculaire, and art are among five themes explored in this impressive exhibition, the first in the UK devoted to YSL, which displays about 50 garments along with sketches, swatches of fabric, photographs of famous models and celebrities, and accessories.

Spread across three galleries, it creates its own dramatic backdrop in a dimly-lit interior, where a large screen relays colour film of clothes being modelled on catwalks and sheer black panels suspended from the ceiling highlight the economical white lines of his sketches.

Colour and light lure the visitor to the adjacent room where designs referencing Mondrian, Matisse and Braque and other artists are ranged opposite flamboyant creations inspired by stage costume, with a magnificent golden domino cloak that harks back to 18th century society theatregoers.

Transparency is another theme. Like some of the artists he admired, Saint Laurent caused his own “shock of the new” with chiffon that merely veiled women’s breasts.

His gothic black evening wear seems all the more provocative opposite functional day clothes such as the safari jacket, reefer coat and the pant suit, invented in the mid-1960s and central to the theme of masculin/feminin inspired by men’s tailoring and fabrics, such as tweed and pinstripe and the famous tuxedo, which he turned into sophisticated feminine chic.

Among many clothes still eminently wearable, these are arguably his lasting legacy, part of a cultural shift that began empowering western women.

The third room, the textile gallery containing historic garments, is the focus for a style dialogue between Saint Laurent pieces and the museum collection, making connections in function and fabric. The central glass cube bedecked in yellow calico with mannequins in a matching shade creates a visual imagining of the atelier alchemy that began with a simple drawn line before the application of colour.

A panel of text explains the many stages from first sketch to finished product for the haute couture client.

Confirming the link between fashion and art and affirming Saint Laurent’s elegant designs as an art form, Style is Eternal runs until October 25.

Pru Farrier