Christie's to auction YSL jacket of Van Gogh 'Sunflowers'

One of the world's most expensive garments, a richly embroidered jacket by Yves Saint Laurent inspired by Vincent van Gogh's "Sunflowers", will go under the hammer in Paris next month, Christie's auction house said Wednesday.

The bright yellow and orange jacket took haute couture embroiderers Maison Lesage more than 600 hours to stitch by hand, according to the Yves Saint Laurent (YSL) museum's website.

It was part of Saint Laurent's 1988 spring-summer collection and was modelled on the catwalk by supermodel Naomi Campbell. Only four of the sequined jackets, which are lined with silk, were ever made.

The garment worn by Campbell is on display in the YSL museum.

The version to be auctioned on November 27 was made for a private client and is estimated to be worth between 80,000 and 120,000 euros ($89,000-$133,000), Christie's said.

Saint Laurent's 1988 collection also featured an equally detailed jacket honouring another flower-themed van Gogh canvas, "Irisis".

The blue and purple garment was auctioned for 175,500 euros -- four times the guide price -- in January out of the closet of Lebanese-born entrepreneur Mouna Ayoub, one of the world's richest women.

"Obviously, it has never been my intention to compare myself to the Masters, but simply to approach them and learn something from their genius," the design icon wrote in the catalogue for a Paris exhibition in 2004 entitled: "Yves Saint Laurent: Dialogue with Art."

"I have always been fascinated by painting, so it was only natural that it should inspire my creations."(AFP)