Yves Saint Laurent: The Fashion Legend Dies

Paris, June 03: French fashion king Yves Saint Laurent, hailed for revolutionizing the way women dressed, died on Sunday. He was 71 and had been in poor health for some time. The reclusive Saint Laurent, whose couture creations secured fine art status across the world, ruled the French fashion scene from the age of 21. "Gabrielle Chanel gave women freedom. Yves Saint Laurent gave them power," the designer`s business partner Pierre Berger told France Info radio. In pics: Yves Saint Laurent » "Like all creators, Yves Saint Laurent had two faces, a public face and a private face," said Berge. He gave no details about the death of his long-time friend. Saint Laurent changed forever what women wore, making the trouser-suit a daytime staple and the tuxedo an elegant option. He popularized safari jackets and thigh-high boots, and his transparent blouses made near-nudity acceptable in high society.

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His square-shouldered suits with patch pockets, brass buttons and wrap-back skirts have become classics, and he simplified evening-wear, moving from shocking satins to flowing white crepe of Hellenic purity. "He completely revamped a women`s wardrobe," luxury underwear designer Chantal Thomass told French radio. "What will stay is the tuxedo for women and the pants ... His fashion was full of color and inspired by art. He traveled a lot in his mind." Algerian background The eldest child of a wealthy French industrialist, Saint Laurent was born and grew up in Oran, 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, he 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. Success was immediate. After his first collection which 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 Montaigne below hailed him like royalty. Saint Laurent directed Dior for three years, until drafted for military service during the Algerian war when a nervous breakdown put him in hospital. He was replaced by Marc Bohan, who is still chief designer at Dior. During Saint Laurent`s convalescence, Berge persuaded a businessman to provide backing for the young designer to establish his own fashion house. Saint Laurent presented his first collection under his own name in 1962 and from then on his empire, under Berge`s direction, grew steadily. He retired from haute couture in 2002 and was rarely seen in public. Bureau Report