After a long period of ill health, legendary couturier Yves Saint Laurent died at his Paris home last night, aged 71. The cause of his death has not been revealed. It was Saint Laurent's long-time confidante and business partner, Pierre Berge, who announced the news to the world media. "Gabrielle Chanel gave women freedom. Yves Saint Laurent gave them power," he said on France Info radio. "Like all creators, Yves Saint Laurent had two faces - a public face and private face." The designer retired from fashion officially in 2002, but his stellar career - which saw him take over haute couture at Christian Dior aged only 21, and give the world some its most iconic looks, such as feted Sixties tuxedo Le Smoking - was shadowed with long-term depression and drug and alcohol problems. He had become increasingly reclusive in his later years. Christian Lacroix, Jean Paul Gaultier, Marc Jacobs, Oscar de la Renta, Yohji Yamamoto and Vera Wang are just some of the fashion-world names who have publicly paid tribute to the man Diana Vreeland dubbed "the Pied Piper of fashion". "I think I'm in shock. I'm in fashion today because of him," Wang told WWD. "I lived in Paris right next to his first couture house. My mother adored his work and introduced me to it when I was 16. I feel in love with fashion because of Yves Saint Laurent. He was the first international superstar in the modern era." Lacroix, too, paid homage to Saint Laurent's legacy. "Chanel, Schiaparelli, Balenciaga and Dior all did extraordinary things. But they worked within a particular style," he said. "Yves Saint Laurent is like a combination of all of them. He's got the form of Chanel and the opulence of Dior and the wit of Schiaparelli." Yves Saint Laurent is now spearheaded creatively by Stefano Pilati, who is credited with designing its collections with respect for its founder's aesthetic. Naomi Campbell will be the face of its autumn/winter 2008-9 campaign. Biography
• Yves Saint Laurent was born in 1936 and grew up in Oran, Algeria
• At 17, he left for Paris where he showed his drawings to Michel de Brunhoff - director of French Vogue - who published several of them immediately
• Following a stint at fashion school, Yves Saint Laurent was introduced to Christian Dior where he worked until Dior's death in 1957
• After taking over as art director for Dior, Yves Saint Laurent launched his first collection for the company, the Ligne Trapéze, that year. It was a resounding success and won him a Neiman Marcus Oscar
• In 1962, after completing National Service, Yves Saint Laurent set up his own fashion house with Pierre Bergé• In 1966, he introduced le smoking - his legendary smoking suit. His other inventions include the reefer jacket (1962), the sheer blouse (1966), and the jumpsuit (1968)
• In October 1998 Yves Saint Laurent showed his last ready-to-wear collection for the Rive Gauche label he had founded more than 30 years before.
He carried on his haute couture until 2002 After a brief stint with Alber Elbaz as designer, in 1999 Tom Ford arrived to take control at the house. The brand entered the stratosphere where it remains today, covering perfume and menswear as well as womenswear. At his last show, in 2002, a tearful Yves Saint Laurent took his final bow as his long-time muse, Catherine Deneuve, sang Ma Plus Belle Histoire d'Amour. Stefano Pilati, who replaced Tom Ford in 2005, continues Yves Saint Laurent's message that "dressing is a way of life".
Yves Saint Laurent died after a long period of ill health at his home in Paris on June 1, 2008. He was 71.
Yves Saint Laurent died after a long period of ill health at his home in Paris on June 1, 2008. He was 71.
1,2 Belle du Jour (Costume Design) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061395/
3 The Hunger (Costume and Wardrobe Department) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085701/
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