French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent has died at the age
of 71, hailed as a 20th century cultural innovator who
revolutionised the way women dressed.
The couture creations of the reclusive Saint Laurent won global
fine art status and he was widely considered to be one of an elite
club of designers including Christian Dior and Coco Chanel who made
Paris the fashion capital of the world.
His long-time companion, Pierre Berge, told RTL radio the designer
had been diagnosed with a brain tumour last year and had died on
Sunday in Paris.
From Princess Grace of Monaco to the actress Catherine Deneuve,
Saint Laurent's creations adorned many famous women but he was also
the first designer to make luxury labels accessible to a wide
audience through innovative ready-to-wear collections.
He made his appearance on the world stage at just 21 and built up a
clothes, perfumes and accessories empire that resulted in a 1989
stock market flotation - the first by a fashion house.
But Saint Laurent also suffered from severe depression and
underwent treatment for alcohol abuse and became increasingly
withdrawn later in life.
The daily Le Figaro gave over its whole front page to the man it
called "the world's greatest couturier" and President Nicolas
Sarkozy praised Saint Laurent as a creative genius. "He was
convinced that beauty was a luxury that every man and woman
needed," Sarkozy said.
Berge told France Info radio: "Chanel gave women freedom. Yves
Saint Laurent gave them power."
"(But) he was someone who was very shy and introverted, who had
only very few friends and hid himself from the world."
A memorial mass will be held on Friday in the church Saint Roch in
Paris, the traditional church of artists and musicians.
Tuxedo
Saint Laurent, who retired in 2002, was credited with changing
forever what women wore, making the trouser suit a daytime staple
and the tuxedo an elegant option.
He also popularised safari jackets and thigh-high boots, and his
transparent blouses made near-nudity acceptable in high
society.
"He completely revamped a woman's wardrobe," luxury underwear
designer Chantal Thomass told French radio. "His fashion was full
of colour and inspired by art."
The eldest child of a wealthy French industrialist, Saint Laurent
was born and grew up in the then French colony of Algeria and
showed a talent for design, making clothes for his younger sisters'
dolls.
At 17 he entered a Paris fashion school, and his sketch for a
cocktail dress won first prize in an annual contest.
Introduced to Christian Dior, the gangly Saint Laurent was hired on
the spot by the creator of the "New Look" and became his chief
assistant. On Dior's death in 1957, Saint Laurent became chief
designer and swiftly outshone his mentor.
After his first collection introduced the widely copied "trapeze"
silhouette with narrow shoulders and flared skirt, the shy
21-year-old was pushed out on to the Dior building balcony and
crowds in the avenue below hailed him like royalty.
Saint Laurent directed Dior for three years, until drafted for
military service during the Algerian war.
For a sensitive person whose homosexuality had made his school
years a torture, army life was an ordeal. He had a nervous
breakdown and spent nearly three months in hospital.
Berge arranged financial backing, and Saint Laurent presented his
first collection under his own name in 1962.
The "YSL" empire grew steadily and Saint Laurent showed an
instinctive ability to sense what the mood on the streets was and
turn it into high fashion.
But by the late 1980s his health problems were an issue.
Insiders said Saint Laurent, who never read newspapers or listened
to the radio, became increasingly cut off from reality and lost
touch with all but a tiny group of friends.
"Fame has destroyed him," Berge once said.
Despite the personal demons, his business empire thrived. The
1989 flotation was a runaway success.
But when the Gulf War erupted and the world economy slumped in the
early 1990s, Berge and Saint Laurent sank into debt.
In 1992, YSL was absorbed by cosmetics and drugs company Sanofi,
with Saint Laurent retaining creative control. Then in 1999 it was
bought by the Gucci group, itself controlled by French luxury giant
PPR .
