Yves Rive Gauche Silk Logo Canotta — Brown, Size S

Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche was the line that changed what ready-to-wear could be — couture thinking sold off the rack, launched in 1966 and run under that name until the house was renamed Saint Laurent Paris in 2012. This canotta belongs to that archive, made in Italy and carrying the original Rive Gauche label collectors now search by name.

The cloth is 100% silk, cut as a canotta — sleeveless, clean through the shoulder and body, with deep armholes that open the line and the YSL monogram at the chest. Silk at this weight moves rather than hangs, which is the whole argument for it. It measures 17¼ inches pit to pit and 23¼ inches shoulder to hem on a size S. Reference 137062/X2044 in colour 8450.

This is deadstock: never worn, with the original Rive Gauche hangtag still attached on its original cord. Archival Rive Gauche has become one of the most quietly collected corners of the market, and unworn examples are the scarce part — most of what survives has been lived in. It reads as a very good silk vest until someone turns the collar over.