Vintage 1960s Yves Saint Laurent Safari Look Purse Photographer Camera Bag

This is an iconic piece designed by Yves Saint Laurent that I believe was part of his Safari Look collection of 1968.  I think that it was originally meant to be a photographer’s camera case or simply meant to look like one, but used as a purse.  One can see how it was conceived to look like something that a photographer on safari assignment would use.

The piece is flat at the back and curved at the front and is made in a shoulder bag style.  It has three compartments affixed to the front that close with snaps.  Originally meant to fit film and camera accessories, these would work great to hold a larger cell phone - each pocket measures about 4 3/4” wide by 5 1/2” high and expands out like a gusset.  The bag opens from its semi-circular top with a zipper.

The interior of the purse is lined in YSL logo printed fabric.  It is gold stamped “Yves Saint Laurent Paris”.  There is a zippered compartment built into the fabric on the back wall of the interior, which also has an open compartment affixed to it.  

There is a cardboard Alitalia Airline Cabin Baggage tag affixed to the shoulder strap that has a 1973 date on it, but I assume that the original owner had the bag for some years before the tag was affixed.  

The bag measures 15” in width across the bottom, 16” if following the front contour.  It has a height of 7 3/4” and a depth of 6” at the bottom.  The shoulder strap has a drop of 17”, adjustable to slightly more or less.

The purse is made of burlap canvas and leather.  It is in very good condition with some leather creasing, a couple of very light soiling spots on the under side and two slightly paler spots and light soiling on the burlap on one of the front pockets, really quite minor.  There has been a repair to the bar of the hardware that holds the shoulder strap to the purse, really not noticeable.  In general, this has been well preserved over the years.

This is a very collectible purse that dates to an iconic Yves Saint Laurent collection....