What is the name of Yves Saint Laurent's iconic women's tuxedo suit?

Yves Saint Laurent’s iconic women’s tuxedo suit is called Le Smoking.

Introduced in 1966, Le Smoking adapted the traditionally male tuxedo for women. Saint Laurent used a tailored jacket, trousers, and formal evening details, but shaped the design around the female body with a more contoured waist and subtly modified collar.

The garment challenged the expectation that women should wear long evening dresses for formal occasions. It offered a sleek, androgynous alternative and became a powerful symbol of changing ideas about women, authority, and public dress. Models and performers including Françoise Hardy helped make the look widely recognizable, while Helmut Newton’s photography reinforced its dramatic image.

A linguistic trap is that “smoking” does not mean a smoking jacket in this context. In French, le smoking is a conventional term for a tuxedo or dinner suit, making “Le Smoking” the specific name of Saint Laurent’s women’s design.