Yves Saint Laurent, one of the greatest designers of the 20th century, died at his home in Paris on Sunday after a long illness. For more than 40 years, Saint Laurent captivated the world of fashion and beyond with an extraordinary repertoire marked by his unique color sense, provocative androgyny and passion for fantasy.
Funeral services for Yves Saint Laurent are scheduled for Thursday afternoon in Paris, with French President Nicolas Sarkozy expected to attend. Pierre Berge, the late designer's longtime business partner, said the service is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at the Eglise Saint-Roch at 296 Rue Saint Honore. Afterward, Saint Laurent will be incinerated, and his ashes will rest at his famous Majorelle Garden in Marrakech.
Yves Saint Laurent, one of the greatest fashion designers in history, died at his home late Sunday at 71 after a long battle with brain cancer. He had been bedridden recently and friends said in the last week he had been unable to eat or talk. Saint Laurent had been rarely seen over the last year, and even then he was wheelchair bound and weak. The legendary couturier passed away in the presence of Berge and longtime friend and muse Betty Catroux. Catherine Deneuve arrived shortly after he died, at 11:10 p.m. Paris time.
The designer’s health had been precarious throughout his life. At age 21, he burst onto the scene as the sensational new designer at Christian Dior, replacing the late Monsieur Dior himself. The bespectacled, shy, soft-spoken designer quickly became an icon — and would remain so for the next five decades.
Saint Laurent’s contributions to fashion were unquestioned — even if, in later years, many of his collections were considered repetitive of his signatures. In this century, only Dior, Coco Chanel, Cristobal Balenciaga and Karl Lagerfeld, his peer and rival, were said to be on the same plateau.
Saint Laurent’s grip on the world of fashion that if he made a slight change in a hemline or a subtle shift in a waistline, the repercussions rippled around the globe. At the minimum, fashion owes him credit for the invention of ready-to-wear through the launch in 1966 of his Rive Gauche collection. But there also were his iconic tuxedo suit “le smoking,” beatnik fashions, the use of safari jackets as a style statement for women and men, the Ballets Russes collection, his unparalleled sense of color combinations, the artistry of his cut, designer denim and the launch of a significant fragrance and beauty business with a designer name.
One of his newest designs :
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