there was a sort of fascination for Marrakech, maybe inspired by the extraordinary people that have fallen in love with this Moroccan city, like the great Yves Saint Laurent. There is something really special about Marrakech, an enchanting and mysterious atmosphere full of colors bathed in a beautiful light. There is this contrast between the lively market and streets of the Medina and the peaceful and enchanting riads.
Pierre Bergé and Yves Saint Laurent purchase Dar El-Hansh, the house of the snake, in Marrakesh’s medina. It is a return of sorts to North Africa for Yves Saint Laurent, who can stroll anonymously in the town’s markets. The city was untainted by mass tourism. Michel Foucault had been coming since 1960 and Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones would invite his fellow band members for regular visits.
Pierre Bergé and Yves Saint Laurent started living in 1975, marks the point at which Saint Laurent descended into drug and alcohol addiction. The designer was under extraordinary pressure to produce two haute couture collections and two ready-to-wear collections each year and, as Bergé observes of Saint Laurent, he “always thought that if he found a way to escape, he’d take it. And he did.”
Dar el Hanch, where the jaw dropping interiors influenced by ancient riads and their tadelakt plaster and zellige tiles, give way to courtyards and pools lined with avenues of palms and exotic plants. It was a joyful existence it seems and one shared with life-long friends such as Betty Catroux, Talitha Getty, Helene Rochas and LouLou de la Falaise. Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull, and the American interior designer Bill Willis were a part of the small group of visitors who would spend evenings at Darr el-Hansh, Pierre Bergé and Yves Saint Laurent’s Marrakesh getaway, listening to Maria Callas on the terrace…
