Yves Saint-Laurent

"Yves Saint-Laurent"
French C1 writing exercise

Thibault and his friend Sonia talk about French designer Yves Saint-Laurent.

Click here to learn more about Yves Saint-Laurent.

Pay attention to the hints!

Some vocabulary you may want to look up before or during this exercise: "to know only by name", "a biopic", "high fashion", "an iconic figure", "audaciousness", "innovative", "second to none", "to popularise", "a women's tuxedo", "to revolutionise", "the 1960s", "to shake [things] up", "to depict", "lifelong struggle", "to fight one's demons", "a Pygmalion", "to contribute to", "including after...", "brain cancer".

Written by Qualified French Expert Aurélie Drouard HKH, Licence d'anglais LLCE
Last updated: 2024-01-24

I’ll give you some sentences to translate into French

  • I’ll show you where you make mistakes
  • I’ll keep track of what you need to practise
  • Change my choices if you want
Start the exercise
How the test works
You’ll practise: L'Imparfait (Indicatif), Adjectif possessif, Genre féminin

Here's a preview of the text for the writing challenge, when you're ready click the start button above:

- I only knew Yves Saint-Laurent by name before Anne and I went to see his biopic a few years ago. - I've always been fascinated by French high fashion, of which Yves Saint-Laurent is one of the most iconic figures. His audaciousness and (his) innovative spirit were second to none. Thus, did you know that he was the one who'd popularised the women's tuxedo, which had revolutionised the fashion industry in the 1960s? - No, that must have really shaken up mentalities at the time! The movie also depicted his lifelong struggle with anxiety and depression. It's incredible that he managed to keep on creating while having to fight his own demons. And I was also very moved by his love story with Pierre Bergé, who was his Pygmalion and largely contributed to the success of his brand, including after Yves's tragic death of brain cancer in 2008.

Thinking...