Unseen Letters Shed Light on Yves Saint Laurent’s Friendship With Hubert de Givenchy

PARIS — Yves Saint Laurent was famous for speaking ill of his competitors, but there was one peer who found grace in his eyes: Hubert de Givenchy.

Saint Laurent declared his admiration for the couturier publicly in an interview in 1991, and privately in a series of letters in which he thanks the designer for his support and professes his deep respect for his oeuvre. His heirs shared the correspondence with WWD to coincide with the sale of…