Fresh Parisian Flowers

"Please don't touch the hats," says the small man in the white coat as he rolls open a heavy door to reveal shelves and shelves of Yves Saint Laurent couture accessories — straw boaters, jeweled crowns, fur toques. His concern is understandable: these aren't so much hats as pieces of history, carefully catalogued and stored in climate-controlled rooms on the third floor of 5, Avenue Marceau — Saint Laurent's famous couture house, now a cultural foundation and home to his archives. Last Friday evening, Saint Laurent devotees such as Catherine Deneuve were invited to walk through the archives to examine collections...

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