Yves Saint Laurent dead at 71: Tributes pour in to French king of haute couture - Telegraph Yves Saint Laurent bows out 05 Jan 2002 As he bowed out seven years ago, Saint Laurent said: "I have nothing in common with this new world of fashion, which has been reduced to mere window-dressing. Elegance and beauty have been banished." Mr Berge said on France's LCI television: "He knew perfectly well that he had revolutionised haute couture, the important place he occupied in the second half of the 20th century." He went on: "Yves Saint Laurent knew perfectly well that he had transformed the world and fashion, that all the women of the world owed a debt to him in a certain way." President Sarkozy said in a statement that with Saint Laurent's death "one of the greatest names in fashion has disappeared, the first to elevate haute couture to the rank of art and that gave him global influence".

"Yves Saint Laurent infused his label with his creative genius, elegant and refined personality, discrete and distinguished, during a half century of work, in both luxury and ready-to-wear, because he was convinced that beauty was a necessary luxury for all men and all women," Mr Sarkozy added. Alexandra Shulman, the editor of British Vogue, said he helped bring fashion to the people. "Before that people had small salons for rich people," she said. "He was young and groovy. Pop stars were hanging out with him and younger generations related to him." Yves Henri Donat Mathieu Saint Laurent was born in the coastal town of Oran, Algeria, on August 1, 1936, at a time when the North African country was still considered part of France. A shy, lonely, child, he became fascinated by clothes, and already had a solid portfolio of sketches when he first arrived in Paris in 1953, aged 17. Michel de Brunoff, editor of Vogue, who was to become a key supporter, was quickly won over, and published them.

The following year Saint Laurent won three of the four categories in a design competition in Paris – and de Brunoff advised Christian Dior to hire him. He took over the fashion house when Dior died suddenly three years later, but in 1960 was called up to fight in his native Algeria in the war of independence. On his return, he struck out on his own founding his own couture house at the start of the 1960s, at a time when the world was changing and there was a new appetite for originality. Saint Laurent rode his luck through the rise of the youth market and pop culture fuelled by the economic boom of the 1960s, when women suddenly had more economic freedom. His name and the familiar YSL logo became synonymous with all the latest trends and one of his best-known creations, a ladies jacket and pants called "le smoking", became a symbol for the emerging women's movement. In his later years the depression that had haunted him all his life became more oppressive, and at his farewell bash in 2002 Saint Laurent admitted to having recourse to "those false friends which are tranquillisers and narcotics".

However, his designs from all seasons are still coveted and worn regularly by adoring fashionistas. 10 FASCINATING FACTS ABOUT YVES SAINT LAURENT You are here: Home / Inspirational People / fashion / 10 FASCINATING FACTS ABOUT YVES SAINT LAURENT 10 FASCINATING FACTS ABOUT YVES SAINT LAURENT 15 SUBSCRIBE AND GET FREE FRESH TIPS RIGHT INTO YOUR MAILBOX * indicates required 10 Fascinating facts about Yves Saint Laurent Advertisement The French fashion designer Yves Henri Donat Mathieu-Saint-Laurent, who is better known worldwide as Yves Saint Laurent, was born on 1 August 1936 and died June 1, 2008. He has been called the most consistently celebrated and influential designer ever and is regarded as one of the greatest names in fashion design. You know the name and you know the label, but how much do you know about the man himself? Here are ten facts about Yves Saint Laurent that you may not have known: 1.

He started in fashion as a boy Yves Saint Laurent had an eye for fashion from a very young age and he started his career by designing dresses for his two sisters and his mother. The world of fashion design was opened up to him, when his mother took him to Paris, at the age of seventeen, to meet the editor of French Vogue, Michael DeBrunhoff. 2. He was bullied when he was a child The designers’ interest in fashion and clothes lead him to being bullied at school for appearing to be gay. Sadly, his childhood was a pretty cloudy one and he was known to be a nervous child who frequently took time off from school. 3. He was born in Algiers Yves Saint Laurent was born in French occupied Algeria and didn’t move to France until he was in his late teens. He first came to prominence when he won a design contest organised by the International Wool Secretariat. It was then that he came to the attention of Christian Dior, who hired the young designer on the spot. Advertisement 4. He served briefly in the army He was called up to serve in the army in his native Algeria, but he only served for about twenty days.

The army wasn’t the place for the young designer and he suffered a nervous breakdown and was transferred to a French Mental hospital, suffering from stress. 5. Cristian Dior sacked him When Yves Saint Laurent returned from his ill-fated brief spell in the army, he found that his job with Cristian Dior was no more. The news came as a big shock to the designer, but he went on to set up his own designer label and eventually collected £48,000 in compensation from Dior. 6. He once posed naked The designer shocked the fashion world when he posed naked in 1971 in an advertisement for his own cologne for men, Pour Homme. The picture wasn’t especially targeted at gay men, but it is said to have had a strong resonance within the gay community. 7. He was the first living designer honoured by the Metropolitan Museum of Art In 1983, YSL was honoured by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York city, with his own, solo, exhibition, the first living person to be given such an honour. 8.

He suffered from mental disorders and addictions Advertisement His childhood and army experiences had a marked impact on his life and Yves Saint Laurent had a lifelong battle with bi-polar disorder, alcoholism and drug abuse. According to his lover, Pierre Bergé, Yves Saint Laurent was crazy with happiness one day and black with depression the next. 9. He feminised male fashion Famous for the “Le Smoking” tuxedo jacket and for his see-through blouses, Yves Saint Laurent has also been credited for feminising the entire male wardrobe. He was one of the first designers to bring cutting and shape to the male wardrobe. 10. He is credited with empowering women and ethnic minorities Yves Saint Laurent has been credited as the person who democratised fashion and making it available to more people. He was the first designer to use models from ethnic minorities and his designs brought looks to women that had only previously available to men. Do you want to share some other facts about Yves Saint Laurent? Feel free to share them in the comment section below. Stay happy!

Citytomb | biography and picturesYves Henri Donat Mathieu-Saint-Laurent Life events: Earlyyears: Yves Henri Donat Mathieu-Saint-Laurent was born in Oran, Algeria. He grew up in a villa by the Mediterranean with his two younger sisters, Michelle and Brigitte. While his family was relatively well off—his father was a lawyer and insurance broker who owned a chain of cinemas—childhood for the future fashion icon was not easy. Saint Laurent was not popular in school, and was often bullied by schoolmates for appearing to be homosexual. As a consequence, Saint Laurent was a nervous child and sick nearly every day. He liked to create intricate paper dolls, and by his early teen years he was designing dresses for his mother and sisters. In 1953, Saint Laurent submitted three sketches to a contest for young fashion designers, organized by the International Wool Secretariat. He won first place and was invited to attend the awards ceremony in Paris, in December of that year. While he and his mother were in Paris, they met Michel de Brunhoff, editor-in-chief of the French edition of Vogue magazine.

De Brunhoff, a considerate person known for encouraging new talent, was impressed by the sketches Saint Laurent brought with him and suggested he become a fashion designer. Saint Laurent would eventually consider a course of study at the ChambreSyndicale de la Haute Couture, the council which regulates the haute couture industry and provides training to its employees. Saint Laurent followed his advice and, leaving Oran for Paris after graduation, began his studies there and eventually graduated as a star pupil. Later that same year, he entered the International Wool Secretariat competition again and won, beating out his friend Fernando Sánchez and young German student Karl Lagerfeld. Shortly after his win, he brought a number of sketches to de Brunhoff who recognized close similarities to sketches he had been shown that morning by Christian Dior. Knowing that Dior had created the sketches that morning and that the young man could not have seen them, de Brunhoff sent him to Dior, who hired him on the spot. Under Dior's tutelage, Saint Laurent's style continued to mature and gain still more notice.In 1959, he was chosen by Farah Diba, who was a student in Paris, to design her wedding dress for her marriage to the Shah of Iran.

In 1960, he was conscripted into the French Army. His spell in the service was short-lived however, and he was transferred into a French mental hospital suffering from stress, where he underwent psychiatric treatment, including electroshock therapy, for a nervous breakdown. He served in the military for just 20 days. In 1962, in the wake of his nervous breakdown, Saint Laurent was released from Dior and started his own label, YSL, financed by his companion, Pierre Bergé. The money and the freedom soon presented Saint Laurent with a unique opportunity. In cooperation with his partner and lover, Pierre Berge, the designer resolved to open his own fashion house. With the rise of pop culture and a general yearning for original, fresh designs, Saint Laurent's timing couldn't have been better. He was a heavy drinker and frequent user of cocaine during the 1960s and 1970s. The Rive Gauche boutiques for women were established in 1966, and men's wear followed in the 1970s. He was the first designer to use ethnic minorities as models on the runway.

Many of his collections were received rapturously by both his fans and the press, such as the fall 1965 collection, which introduced Le Smoking tailored tuxedo suit. Other collections raised great controversy, such as his spring 1971 collection, which was inspired by 1940s fashion. Some felt it romanticized the German occupation of France during World War II, which he personally did not experience, while others felt it brought back the unattractive utilitarianism of the time. The French newspaper France Soir called the spring 1971 collection "Unegrande farce!" Later years: In 1977, YSL launched the very popular 'Opium' perfume. In the late 1970s, he and Bergé bought a neo-gothic villa, Château Gabriel in Benerville-sur-Mer, near Deauville, France. Yves Saint Laurent was a great admirer of Marcel Proust who had been a frequent guest of Gaston Gallimard, one of the previous owners of the villa.

When they bought Château Gabriel, Saint Laurent and Bergé commissioned Jacques Grange to decorate it with themes inspired by Proust'sRemembrance of Things Past. By the 1980s, Yves Saint Laurent was a true icon. He became the first designer to have a retrospective on his work at the Metropolitan Museum in New York City. Under the direction of Berge, who continued to manage Saint Laurent's firm even though the two had broken up in 1986, the fashion house flourished as a money making venture.In 1992, the YSL brand ran into a bit of trouble when CEO Pierre Borge was convicted of insider trading and sentenced to a fine of 1 million Francs. The company nevertheless continued to be competitive in the world of fashion.In 1996, the designer ended his 30-year run of fashion shows for his Pret-a-Porter collection. From then until his retirement, Saint Laurent offered peeks at his new designs to a select group of journalists alone.He also created a foundation with Bergé in Paris to trace the history of the house of YSL, complete with 15,000 objects and 5,000 pieces of clothing.

By the end of the decade, with Saint Laurent slowing down his work pace, he and Berge had sold the company they'd started, netting the two men a fortune. Saint Laurent had often touted himself as the last truly authentic couturier before his retirement in 2002. Since that time, Stefano Pilati has acted as the company’s Haute Couture designer. Five years later, Saint Laurent's imprint and importance on French culture was cemented when he was appointed Grand Officer of the Legion d'honnerur by French President, Nicolas Sarkozy. Yves Saint Laurent passed away in Paris on June 1, 2008 after a brief illness. A number of the designer's belongings were sold at auction the year after his death, including Egyptian sculptures and paintings by Picasso. He had collected these works with Berg who decided to sell them as 'it has lost the greatest part of its significance'. Some of the proceeds were donated towards creating a new foundation devoted to Aids research. In 2014, two movies, Saint Laurent (film) and Yves Saint Laurent (film), focused on his life.

Education: At the age of 18, Saint Laurent moved to Paris and enrolled at the ChambreSyndicale de la Haute Couture. He attended fashion school for a short time and won first prize in an international design contest. Occupations and Career: He was a fashion designer, and is regarded as one of the greatest names in fashion history.He became head designer at Dior in 1957, producing six collections before he was replaced in 1960. He started his own couture house two years later, going on to launch Y, his first perfume for women (1964), the Rive Gauche boutiques for women (1966), and menswear (1974). He also brought his design expertise to bear on other fields, styling the actress Catherine Deneuve for the Luis Bunuel film Belle du jour, a fashion-film star relationship that gained recognition for Saint Laurent with an ‘Oscar’ award from Harper's Bazaar. By the mid-1970s, at the height of his success, his design empire included sweaters, neckties, eyeglass cases, linens, children's clothes, and fragrances.

Gucci acquired his ready-to-wear and cosmetics divisions in 2000. He retired in 2002. Awards /Honors: In 1985 he was awarded the Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur by the president of France, François Mitterand. In 2007, he was awarded the rank of Grand officier de la Légiond'honneur by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Death, place of deh, Time of death, placate of burial: Saint Laurent died June 1, 2008 of brain cancer at his residence in Paris. He was given a Catholic funeral at St. Roch Catholic Church in Paris. His body was cremated and his ashes were scattered in Marrakech, Morocco, in the Majorelle Garden, a residence and botanical garden that he owned with Bergé since 1980 and often visited to find inspiration and refuge. Quotes and Memoirs: Fashions fade, style is eternal. We must never confuse elegance with snobbery. Over the years I have learned that what is important in a dress is the woman who is wearing it.

I have often said that I wish I had invented blue jeans: the most spectacular, the most practical, the most relaxed and nonchalant. They have expression, modesty, sex appeal, simplicity - all I hope for in my clothes. I adore America. It's an extraordinary country. A new country. A good model can advance fashion by ten years. I wish I had invented blue jeans. They have expression, modesty, sex appeal, simplicity - all I hope for in my clothes. I want to thank all the women who have worn my clothes, the famous and the unknown, who have been so faithful to me and given me so much joy. I'd really like to be in closer contact with life. I'm a little too distant, I guess. I like to place myself outside. I'm so secluded, Very alone. I am no longer concerned with sensation and innovation, but with the perfection of my style. It pains me physically to see a woman victimized, rendered pathetic, by fashion. I couldn't love a woman who inspired me to be totally disinterested. If I fell in love with a woman for an artistic reason, or from the point of view of my work, I think it would rob her of something.

References: YSL L'HOMME EDT 100 MLSP - Citrus - Fragrance - Perfume & Fragrances - pygmaleon YSL L'HOMME EDT 100 MLSP YSL L'HOMME EDT 100 MLSP Men - YSL L'HOMME EDT 100 MLSP SKU: IT3365440316560 Top notes are ginger, bergamot and lemon; middle notes are spices, white pepper, basil and violet leaf; base notes are tonka bean, tahitian vetiver and cedar. Availability: In stock YSL L'HOMME EDT 100 MLSP SKU: 100 ml. e / 3.4 fl oz. Q&A Questions Product Q&A: Ask a question Enter your question below Be the first to ask a question about this product Answers Designer Yves Henri Donat Mathieu-Saint-Laurent, known as Yves Saint Laurent August 1, 1936 June 1, 2008), was a French fashion designer, and is regarded as one of the greatest names in fashion history.

In 1985, Caroline Rennolds Milbank wrote, 'The most consistently celebrated and influential designer of the past twenty-five years, Yves Saint Laurent can be credited with both spurring the couture's rise from its sixties ashes and with finally rendering ready-to-wear reputable.' He is also credited with having introduced the tuxedo suit for women and was known for his use of non-European cultural references, and non-White models. Three documentaries have been made about Saint Laurent's life: David Teboul's 'Yves Saint Laurent: His Life and Times' (2002), 'Yves Saint Laurent: 5 Avenue Marceau 75116 Paris' (2002), and Pierre Thoretton's 'L'Amour Fou' (2009). In 1953, Saint Laurent submitted three sketches to a contest for young fashion designers, organized by the International Wool Secretariat. He won first place and was invited to attend the awards ceremony in Paris, in December of that year. While he and his mother were in Paris, they met Michel de Brunhoff, editor-in-chief of the French edition of Vogue magazine.

De Brunhoff, a considerate person known for encouraging new talent, was impressed by the sketches Saint Laurent brought with him and suggested he become a fashion designer. Saint Laurent would eventually consider a course of study at the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, the council which regulates the haute couture industry and provides training to its employees. Saint Laurent followed his advice and, leaving Oran for Paris after graduation, began his studies there and eventually graduated as a star pupil. Later that same year, he entered the International Wool Secretariat competition again and won, beating out his friend Fernando Sﾇnchez and young German student Karl Lagerfeld. Shortly after his win, he brought a number of sketches to de Brunhoff who recognized close similarities to sketches he had been shown that morning by Christian Dior. Knowing that Dior had created the sketches that morning and that the young man could not have seen them, de Brunhoff sent him to Dior, who hired him on the spot. Although Dior recognized his talent immediately, Saint Laurent spent his first year at the House of Dior on mundane tasks, such as decorating the studio and designing accessories.

Eventually, however, he was allowed to submit sketches for the couture collection; with every passing season, more of his sketches were accepted by Dior. In August 1957, Dior met with Saint Laurent's mother to tell her that he had chosen Saint Laurent to succeed him as designer. His mother later said that she had been confused by the remark, as Dior was only 52 years old at the time. Both she and her son were surprised when in October of that year Dior died at a health spa in northern Italy of a massive heart attack. In 1957, Saint Laurent found himself at age 21 the head designer of the House of Christian Dior S.A.. His spring 1958 collection almost certainly saved the enterprise from financial ruin; the straight line of his creations, a softer version of Dior's New Look, catapulted him to international stardom with what would later be known as the 'trapeze dress.' Others included in the collection were dresses with a narrow shoulder and flared gently at the bottom. At this time he shortened his surname to Saint Laurent because the international press found his hyphenated triple name difficult to spell.

His fall 1958 collection was not greeted with the same level of approval as his first collection, and later collections for the House of Dior featuring hobble skirts and beatnik fashions were savaged by the press.In 1959, he was chosen by Farah Diba, who was a student in Paris, to design her wedding dress for her marriage to the Shah of Iran. In 1960, Saint Laurent found himself conscripted to serve in the French Army during the Algerian War of Independence. Alice Rawsthorn writes that there was speculation at the time that Marcel Boussac, the owner of the House of Dior and a powerful press baron, had put pressure on the government not to conscript Saint Laurent in 1958 and 1959 but reversed course and asked that the designer be conscripted after the disastrous 1960 season so that he could be replaced. Shipping & Returns You're reviewing: YSL L'HOMME EDT 100 MLSP *Nickname Yves Saint Laurent facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia.com articles about Yves Saint Laurent COPYRIGHT 2002 The Gale Group Inc.

SAINT LAURENT, Yves French designer Born: Yves Henri Donat Mathieu Saint Laurent in Oran , Algeria , 1 August 1936. Education: Studied at L'École de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture, 1954.

Career: Independent clothing stylist, Paris , 1953-54; designer/partner, 1954-57, chief designer, Dior, Paris, 1957-60; began designing for theater and film, 1959; founder/designer, Yves Saint Laurent, Paris, from 1962; Rive Gauche ready-to-wear line introduced, 1966; menswear line introduced, 1974; firm purchased by Elf-Sanofi SA, 1993; designer Elber Albaz hired, 1998-2000; acquired by Gucci Group NV, 1999; Tom Ford took over as creative director, 2000; renovated Madison Avenue store reopened, 2001; retired from designing, 2002; fragrances include Y 1964; Rive Gauche, 1971; Opium, 1978; Paris, 1983; Champagne, (renamed Yvresse, 1996) 1993; Opium relaunch, 199

5; Opium for Men, 1996; Baby Doll, 1999; Nu, 2001.

Exhibitions: Yves Saint Laurent, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1983; Yves Saint Laurent et le Théâtre, Musée des Arts de la Mode, Paris, 1986; Yves Saint Laurent, 28 Ans de Création, Musée des Arts de la Mode, 1986; retrospective, Art Gallery of New South Wales , Sydney , Australia , 1987. Awards: International Wool Secretariat award, 1954; Neiman Marcus award, 1958; Harper's Bazaar award, 1966; Council of Fashion Designers of America award, 1981; CFDA Lifetime Achievement award, 1999; Fifi Fragrance award (for Baby Doll ), 2000. Address: 5 avenue Marceau, 75116 Paris, France . Website: Publications "YSL Models Rive Gauche for Men in His Marrakesh Home," in Vogue (London), 1 October 1969. "Yves Saint Laurent: His Very Special World," in McCall's (New York), January 1970.

"Mary Russell Interviews Saint Laurent," in Vogue (New York), 1 November 1972. "Yves Saint Laurent Talks to Bianca Jagger," in Interview, January 1973. Julian, P., "Les années 20 revues dans les années 70 chez Yves Saint Laurent," in Connaissance des Arts (Paris), December 1973. Heilpern, John, and Yves Saint Laurent, "Yves Saint Laurent Lives," in The Observer Magazine (London), 5 June 1977. "Designers of Influence: Yves Saint Laurent, the Great Educator," in Vogue (London), June 1978. "Bravo: 20 Years of Saint Laurent," in Vogue (London), April 1982. "A Salute to Yves Saint Laurent," in the New York Times Magazine, 4 December 1983. Brubach, Holly, "The Truth in Fiction," in The Atlantic Monthly (Boston, Massachusetts), May 1984. Savage, Percy, "Yves Saint Laurent," in Art and Design (London), August 1985.

Berge, P., "Yves Saint Laurent der Modezeichner," in Du (Zurich), No. 10, 1986. "Un équilibre définitif: Saint Laurent Rive Gauche," in Vogue (Paris), February 1986. Griggs, Barbara, "All About Yves," in The Observer (London), 25 May 1986. Mauries, Patrick, "Yves," in Vogue (Paris), June 1986. "Le triomphe de Saint Laurent," in L'Officiel (Paris), June 1986. Pringle, Colombe, "Saint Laurent: sanctifié il entre au musée," in Elle (Paris), June 1986. Worthington, Christa, "Saint Laurent: Life as a Legend," in Women's Wear Daily (New York), 18 July 1986. "Yves Only," in Vogue (London), September 1987. "Prince Charmant. Bernard Sanz: L'homme de Saint Laurent," in Profession Textile (Paris), 27 May 1988.

"Saint Laurent pour toujours," in Profession Textile (Paris), 30 September 1988. Duras, Marguerite, "Saint Laurent par Duras," in Elle (Paris), 31 October 1988. Hyde, Nina, and Albert Allart, "The Business of Chic," in the National Geographic (Washington, D.C.), July 1989. Howell, Georgina, "The Secrets of Saint Laurent," in The Sunday Times Magazine (London), 2 July 1989. ——, "Best Couturier: Yves Saint Laurent," in The Sunday Times Magazine (London), 16 July 1989. Rafferty, Diane, Charles van Rensselaer and Thomas Cunneen, "The Many Faces of Yves: The Designer of the Half Century," in Connoisseur, February 1990. Menkes, Suzy, "Yves of the Revolution," in the Sunday Express Magazine (London), 22 April 1990. Germain, Stephanie, "All About Yves," in Paris Passion (Paris), October 1990.

Roberts, Michael, and André Leon Talley, "Unveiling Saint Laurent," in Interview (New York), June 1991. Smith, Liz, "Thirty Years at Fashion's Cutting Edge," in The Times (London), 27 January 1992. "Yves Saint Laurent, King of Couture," interview, in Elle (New York), February 1992. Brubach, Holly, "Fanfare in a Minor Key," in The New Yorker, 24 February 1992. White, Lesley, "The Saint," in Vogue (London), November 1994. Kramer, Jane, "The Impresario's Last Act, in the New Yorker (New York), 21 November 1994. Schiro, Anne-Marie, "Yves Saint Laurent's Shocking New Color: Black," in the New York Times (New York), 22 March 1995. Menkes, Suzy, "YSL Plays Safe While Valentino Shines at Night," in the International Herald Tribune (Paris), 22 March 1995.

"Saint Laurent: A Fitting End," in WWD, 22 March 1995. Menkes, Suzy, "A New Generation in Ready-to-Wear: Alber Elbaz Gets Aboard at YSL," in the International Herald Tribune, 9 June 1998. "YSL Coming to Receive CFDA Award," in WWD, 29 March 1999. Menkes, Suzy, "Gucci Buys House of YSL for $1-Billion," in the International Herald Tribune, 16 November 1999. ——, "New Team, Same Theme at YSL," in the International Herald Tribune, 20 January 2000. Socha, Miles, "Ford's YSL: Full Steam Ahead," in WWD, 12 January 2001. "At Yves Saint Laurent, Tom's Triumph," in WWD, 15 March 2001. Menkes, Suzy, "YSL and the Secrets of Classic Couture," in the International Herald Tribune, 12 July 2001.

Ozzard, Janet, "Tom's Rive Gauche," in WWD, 6 September 2001. Ozzard, Janet, et al, "Tom Ford Expands YSL Store," in DNR, 10 September 2001. Diderich, Joelle, "Fashion Legend Yves Saint Laurent Retires," from Reuters Newswire, 7 January 2002. Cowdy, Hannah, "YSL: Adieu to a Fashion Generation," available online at ABCNews, 7 January 2002. *** A great adaptor, Yves Saint Laurent responds in his designs to history, art, and literature. Vast ranges of themes are incorporated into his work, from the Ballet Russes to the writings of Marcel Proust, who inspired his taffeta gowns of 1971; the paintings of Picasso to the minimalist work of Mondrian and the de Stijl movement, shown in the primary colors of his geometrically blocked wool jersey dresses of 1965. Saint Laurent has a great love of the theatre.

He has designed costumes for many stage productions during his long career and the theatre is an important source of ideas for his couture collections. Flamboyant ensembles, such as the Shakespeare wedding dress of brocade and damask of 1980 and his extravagant series of garments inspired by a romantic vision of Russian dress, reflect his passion for theatrical costume. Less successful have been his attempts to engage with countercultural movements such as the 1960 collection based on the bohemian Left Bank look. The criticism leveled by the press on being confronted with the avant garde on the couture catwalk led to Saint Laurent's replacement as head designer for Dior, even though his 1958 trapeze line had been an enormous success and he had been fêted as the savior of Parisian couture. At this time the House of Dior was responsible for nearly half of France's fashion exports, so there was a heavy burden of financial responsibility on Saint Laurent's shoulders.

The 1960 collection appropriated the Left Bank style with knitted turtlenecks and black leather jackets, crocodile jackets with mink collars, and—a design which was to crop up again and again in his repertoire—the fur jacket with knitted sleeves. In 1968 Saint Laurent produced a tailored trouser collection reflecting his sympathy with the cause of the student marchers who had brought the streets of Paris to a standstill. The clothes were black and accessorized with headbands and fringes. Where Saint Laurent sets the standards for world fashion is in his feminizing of the basic shapes of the male wardrobe. Like Chanel before him, he responded to the subtleties of masculine tailoring seeking to provide a similar sort of style for women. He produced a whole series of elegant day clothes, such as the shirt dress, which became a staple of the sophisticated woman's wardrobe of the 1970s.

Saint Laurent is justly acclaimed for his sharply tailored suits with skirts or trousers, le smoking (a simple black suit with satin lapels based on the male tuxedo, which became an alternative to the frothily feminine evening gown), safari jackets, brass buttoned pea jackets, flying suits—in fact many of the chic classics of postwar women's style. Saint Laurent's designs contain no rigid shaping or over-elaborate cutting but depend on a perfection of line and a masterful understanding of printed textiles and the use of luxurious materials. He worked with silk printers to produce glowing fabric designs incorporating a brilliant palette of clashing colors such as hot pink, violet, and sapphire blue. A sharp contrast is produced with his simple, practical daywear and romantic, exotic eveningwear, which is more obviously seductive with its extensive beadwork, embroidery, satin, and sheer fabrics such as silk chiffon. Less interested in fashion than in style, Saint Laurent is and will always be a classicist, designing elegant, tasteful, and sophisticated apparel, perfectly handcrafted in the manner of the old couturiers.

He did, however, use industrial methods to produce his Rive Gauche ready-to-wear line, created in 1966, and sold in his own franchised chain of boutiques. The popular line was later taken over by Alber Elbaz, who had worked for Guy Laroche, in 1998, and then by Tom Ford in 2000. There was been a radical change in the small company founded by Yves Saint Laurent and business partner Pierre Bergé in 1961. It became a massive financial conglomerate, listed on the Paris Bourse, the result of profitable licensing deals. In the 1990s the firm changed ownership several times, ending up as part of the Gucci Group in 1999. Called "fashion's shiniest trophy," by the International Herald Tribune (16 November 1999), the YSL acquisition was another example of the fashion industry's tightening consolidation. In the 21st century, YSL remained an acclaimed couture house, though its namesake and Rive Gauche designer Tom Ford rarely saw eye to eye.

In January 2002, however, such creative differences were moot: Saint Laurent announced he was leaving the firm that bore his name and retiring. Roundly considered the last of the true haute couturiers, the industry lost one of its most elegant and inspired purveyors. —Caroline Cox; COPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group Inc. Yves St. Laurent Beginning his career in the late 1950s as the head fashion designer at the internationally renowned House of Dior in Paris, Yves St. Laurent (born 1936) quickly rose to become one of the most talented designers of haute couture of the twentieth century. Yves St. Laurent possesses an unwavering confidence in his ability to design beautiful clothes. Innovative in his approach to style—he has adapted everything from 1930s platform shoes to military jackets to see-through dresses for display on Paris fashion runways. St.

Laurent drew on his own sense of line, drape, and color, as well as inspirations gained from 1940s menswear, the paintings of Pablo Picasso, the designs of Coco Channel, and other influences, to make his name synonymous with style, and familiar to generations of sophisticated, fashion-conscious women and men. Through his many long-term friendships with such high-profile individuals as artist Andy Warhol, actress Catherine Deneuve, and dancer Rudolph Nureyev, he has become a recognizable symbol of the continuing interrelationship between high fashion and other contemporary arts. A Reflective Childhood in Algiers St. Laurent was born in Oran, Algeria, on August 1, 1936. His father, Charles Mathieu St. Laurent, was an attorney, while his mother, Lucienne-Andree St. Laurent, looked after Yves and his younger sisters, Michele and Brigitte. A quiet, emotional, and introspective child, he showed little interest in sports or reading, preferring to create visual art by designing miniature stage sets and costumes. Following the wishes of his father, St.

Laurent applied himself to his secondary studies, earning his baccalaureat degree at the Lycee d'Oran in 1954. By this point, it had become clear to his parents that St. Laurent's talents lay someplace other than the law. In fact, despite being untrained in fashion or design, one of his sketches had been awarded third place in the annual International Wool Secretariat contest held in Paris in 1953. He was encouraged to travel to Paris, his portfolio of fashion and costume sketches and a letter of recommendation to Michel de Brunhoff in hand. Brunhoff, then editor-in-chief of the French edition of Vogue magazine, was a powerful arbiter of fashion, and he was impressed by St. Laurent's sense of style and a sophistication surprising in one so young. The editor was also struck by several of St. Laurent's designs, which were similar to some Brunhoff had seen in the upcoming collection of consummate designer Christian Dior. It was obvious that the two men must meet.

Adopted as Protege of Leader of House of Dior Dior had been the reining king of high fashion since 1947, when his first collection had impressed Paris runway crowds with its sleek lines. When he met St. Laurent in 1954 and studied his portfolio of sketches, he understood what Brunhoff had seen: a similar sophistication and style. St. Laurent's success at the International Wool Secretariat— three first-place awards out of a possible four—convinced Dior to take an interest in the young fashion designer. In 1955, at the age of 19, St. Laurent found himself working as an assistant in the most prestigious design firm in the world: the House of Dior. The world of high fashion in the mid-twentieth century was a competitive one, dominated by a few top "names" who based their design houses in Paris. During the 1950s, the name Christian Dior was most well known in a group that also included Karl Lagerfeld, Pierre Cardin, Hubert de Givenchy, and Coco Chanel. His affiliation with Dior, as well as his obvious talent, quickly elevated St.

Laurent to more than just an assistant. When Dior passed away suddenly in October 1957, it was no surprise that St. Laurent was quickly named to the position of chief designer of the House of Dior. Some feared that the House would fall upon its namesake's death—and with it the jobs of over 2,000 people. St. Laurent's 1958 collection assuaged any such pessimism. His "Trapeze" collection, which featured a dress cut narrow at the shoulders and then swinging out in an "A" line at a new, refreshing shorter skirt length, impressed runway crowds and was quickly picked up by manufacturers. At the gala following the successful showing, St. Laurent was introduced to Pierre Berge, a young man with a talent for business. Despite, or perhaps because of their differing temperaments, the quiet, high-strung designer and the savvy, public-minded businessman would become lovers and eventual business partners. Personal and Professional Partnership Credited for saving the House of Dior from ruin, St. Laurent grew more confident in his talents.

The conservative Dior following viewed his 1959 designs, with their curved lines and longer, hobbled skirts, as controversial. However, by the following summer, a more feminine look graced Dior's lithe runway models. Unfortunately, by the fall of 1960 the house's chief designer was removed from his post, not through lack of popularity but because of France's mandatory requirement of 27 months of military service. Suffering from a nervous breakdown only months into his required service, St. Laurent was hospitalized. Berge aided his recovery by encouraging the designer to do costume work for several Paris theatre productions. While the House of Dior, unwilling to risk its future on the recovering designer, dismissed St. Laurent, Berge acquired $700,000 from U.S. businessman J. Mack Robinson as start-up funds for a new design house: the first Yves St. Laurent haute couture collection debuted on January 29, 1962. Over the next several years, St.

Laurent would introduce many collections via the Paris fashion runways, each with a trademark theme, and each accompanied by a gala party to which fashion magazine editors, buyers, and wealthy arbiters of modern fashion would flock to see and be seen. Some, like his "Arc" line created while he was still at the House of Dior in late 1958, would rouse only lukewarm enthusiasm. Others, such as his "Mondrian" dress designs of 1965 and the trouser suits, menswear look, and safari-styled jackets of the late 1960s and 1970s, quickly found their way to upscale versions in major department stores worldwide. The popularity of the St. Laurent look was further aided by the designer's close association with actress Catherine Deneuve, and his costume designs for the 1965 Louis Bunuel film Belle de jour. During the 1960s and 1970s, design houses expanded their creative efforts beyond textiles, and introduced fragrances to a public eager to adopt all that a "name" designer had to offer.

While his women's fragrances, "Y", "Rive Gauche," and "Opium"—released in 1960, 1971, and 1978 respectively—were newsworthy, St. Laurent's move into the men's market made the news outside fashion circles. While his first showing of men's clothing had occurred during the 1969 runway season, his "YSL for Men" line of fragrances was marketed through a photograph of the designer sans any fashion at all. This nude photograph of St. Laurent, while appreciated for its aesthetic merits and adopted as an icon by gays during the 1970s, infuriated many in the fashion community and was banned from the pages of several periodicals. Fashion Industry Moves to Mainstream High fashion was traditionally produced as a collection of one-of-a-kind garments designed to catch the eye of the press and those few wealthy individuals able to afford them. The new "styles" filtered down to mainstream markets through the manufacturers that incorporated them into their own lines.

During the 1960s several noted designers had begun to market a line of pret-a-porter or ready-to-wear clothes: garments bearing a designer label but mass-produced for marketing to less affluent consumers. In 1971, Berge and St. Laurent also made the move to pret-a-porter, opening the first St. Laurent Rive Gauche showroom. In conjunction with this effort to woo a more mainstream consumer, St. Laurent's designs began to stabilize along classic lines, his more creative efforts now focused on theatrical costumes designed for theatres in Paris and New York. One exception to this was his 1976 collection, which he based on the colorful, abstract costumes created for the Ballet Russe by painter Leon Bakst in the 1920s. Ill-Health and Business Turmoil While St. Laurent had suffered from health problems in the late 1970s, he continued to produce lavish shows through the end of the decade. However, in the late 1970s and into the next decade rumors began circulating that he had contracted AIDS.

While his public appearances at shows and parties repeatedly put such rumors to rest, it was noted that such appearances by the designer were becoming less and less frequent. However, through the efforts of Berge, the Yves St. Laurent name continued to flourish, through licensing arrangements with manufacturers, advertising campaigns, and the establishment of Rive Gauche boutiques in several major cities, including New York. The relationship between the St. Laurent and Berge had become strained, due in part to a change in their personal relationship. Although they appeared in public together as honors were heaped upon them for their joint accomplishment in building the Yves St. Laurent name, by the late 1980s the interests of the two men had become diametrically opposed. In 1986, with the help of an Italian businessman, Berge acquired control of the YSL perfume division. In 1989, the Yves St. Laurent business entity went public, selling shares on the Paris stock exchange and removing all but creative control from the designer. While his 1990 haute couture collection proved to be a success, the stress of the company's transition took its toll on St.

Laurent, and he was admitted to a French hospital. Within two years the company was openly for sale, with business negotiations officiated by Berge. In 1993, the Sanofi Corporation purchased Yves St. Laurent for $650 million. The sale made both St. Laurent and Berge rich, although Berge was fined on suspicion of insider trading in conjunction with the business deal. Despite the dismantling of his business empire, St. Laurent received numerous accolades for his talents as a designer. In 1985, he was made a Chevalier of France's Legion of Honor, one of his nation's most esteemed awards. Shortly thereafter, a retrospective of his works was organized and toured throughout Europe, China, Australia, and the United States. Through the 1990s, St. Laurent would continue to design both the YSL haute couture and pret-a-porter collections, continuing to refine his timeless, elegant designs for sophisticated women. Further Reading Fashion, Costume, and Culture: Clothing, Headwear, Body Decorations, and Footwear through the Ages COPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group, Inc.

YVES SAINT LAURENT French designer Yves Saint Laurent (1936–) was born in Oran , Algeria , and, at age seventeen, settled in Paris , France . There he attempted to secure work as a fashion and costume designer. Two years later, after the publication of several of his sketches, he was invited to meet the celebrated designer Christian Dior (1905–1957). Dior immediately hired the young designer and became his mentor. Then Dior suddenly died. At the age of twenty-one Saint Laurent was designated Dior's successor, becoming chief designer at the House of Dior. Saint Laurent scored a major success with his first show, in which he presented what was dubbed the "trapeze" look. Trapeze skirts were flat-fronted and flared out from the waist in an almost triangular fashion. In 1960 he launched the elegant "Beat Look," spotlighting knit sleeves, turtlenecks, and black leather jackets bordered in fur. Two years later Saint Laurent left the House of Dior and opened his own fashion house. He soon became an expert at adapting his haute couture (high fashion) designs for average, middle-class, style-conscious women.

The 1960s found Saint Laurent offering additional innovative designs: the Mondrian dress (1965), which borrowed the geometrical shapes found in the paintings of Dutch artist Piet Mondrian (1872–1944); "le smoking," an androgynous, or gender-neutral, women's tuxedo/smoking jacket (1966); and the jumpsuit, a one-piece suit consisting of shirt and pants or shorts (1968). He designed pea coats, safari jackets, peasant blouses and dresses, and see-through blouses. He incorporated pop art into his designs, which during the 1960s was a trendy art style that included such familiar images as product packaging and newspaper comic strips. In 1966 he started a line of Rive Gauche ready-to-wear (off-the-rack versus custom-made) clothing, and he began designing menswear in 1974. Over the decades, the Yves Saint Laurent (or "YSL") name has been licensed to a range of products, including eyeglasses, bath and bed linens, furs, and perfume.

He also was the first major designer to employ models of varied ethnic backgrounds. From the late 1960s on, more and more women entered the workplace. To accommodate their needs, Saint Laurent designed work attire that included pants and blazers rather than skirts and dresses. These innovations were not immediately accepted. At first, the classic Saint Laurent pantsuit was not considered appropriate work-place apparel for women. Occasionally, women wearing them were turned away from fancier restaurants. In 1983 the Museum of Modern Art in New York City presented an exhibit spotlighting a quarter-century of Saint Laurent's creations. It was the first time a still-active designer was so honored. In October 1998 Saint Laurent introduced his final ready-to-wear collection, and the following year he sold his business to Gucci. Saint Laurent announced his retirement in 2002. Yves Saint Laurent's life and career may be summed up by what is perhaps his most celebrated declaration: "Fashions fade, style is eternal." Cite this article The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.

Copyright The Columbia University Press Yves Saint Laurent (ēv săN lôräN´), 1936–2008, French fashion designer, b. Oran, Algeria, as Yves Henri Donat Mathieu-Saint-Laurent. Moving to Paris at 17, he ultimately established houses of couture and boutiques there and in New York. He was the foremost assistant to Christian Dior and became his designated successor as head of the House of Dior at the age of 21. His early collections were noted for their maverick quality, and his work of the 1960s and 70s helped to democratize the world of fashion. His last Dior collection (1960) featured the "chic beatnik" look: knitted turtlenecks, thigh-length boots, and short black leather jackets. He opened his own Paris house in 1961, and in the following years revolutionized the fashion world by creating trousers for day and evening wear and broad-shouldered suits that were images of power for women.

His other designs include sophisticated tweed suits, the Mondrian dress, pleated skirts, safari jackets, pea coats, updated peasant costumes, le smoking (tuxedos for women), and heavy costume jewelry. His focus on an androgynous look was extremely influential in the fashion of the 1970s. He also designed for the Ballets de Roland Petit. By the mid-1970s, at the height of his success, his design empire included sweaters, neckties, eyeglass cases, linens, children's clothes, and fragrances. Gucci acquired his ready-to-wear and cosmetics divisions in 2000. Saint Laurent retired and closed his house in 2002. See D. Teboul, Yves Saint Laurent: 5, Avenue Marceau, 75116 Paris (2002); A. Drake, The Beautiful Fall: Lagerfeld, Saint Laurent, and Glorious Excess in 1970s Paris (2006); two documentary films dir. by D.

Teboul, one of the same title as his book, the other Yves Saint Laurent: His Life and Times (both: 2003). Cite this article Yves Saint Laurent: the battle for his life story | Film | The Guardian The Observer Yves Saint Laurent: the battle for his life story Six years after he died, the 'truth' over Yves Saint Laurent's hedonistic and tortured life is being fought over by two new films ‘You know, I’m not that nice’: designer Yves Saint Laurent, pictured in 1985. Photograph: AP The Observer Yves Saint Laurent: the battle for his life story Six years after he died, the 'truth' over Yves Saint Laurent's hedonistic and tortured life is being fought over by two new films John-Michael O'Sullivan Share on Messenger Close In 2001, seven years before he died, Yves Saint Laurent agreed to be filmed by documentary-maker David Teboul for a rare behind-the-scenes look at his work.

In the opening scene, watching a slideshow of family photographs, he grimaces: "J'ai joué le 'grand couturier'…" His voice is both sad and self-mocking; the voice of an old man looking back across a great distance at his frail 16-year-old self, head bowed over his lavishly dressed paper dolls. Growing up in 1940s French Algeria, the young Yves Henri Donat Mathieu-Saint-Laurent dreamed of Paris: a bullied outcast at school, he escaped into fantasy at home – devouring his mother's fashion magazines, sketching endlessly, and predicting (in the safety of his adoring family circle, at least) a future of spectacular fame. Six decades on, the story of the little boy who played "grand couturier", and who grew up to become the century's most notorious fashion designer, shows no sign of losing its appeal. This year will see the release of two films based on his life: the first, actor/director Jalil Lespert's Yves Saint Laurent, is currently topping the French box office, charming audiences with its affectionately human portrait of the man behind the myth.

In October the second – directed by Bertrand Bonello, best known for the controversial L'Apollonide , or House of Tolerance – will be released. Pierre Bergé , Saint Laurent's partner, has granted Lespert access to his extensive archives and last year tweeted his outrage at the rival project: "I hold the moral rights over YSL's work… A trial on the cards?" Still, Bonello has his own heavyweight backer in Kering – the luxury conglomerate which now owns the Yves Saint Laurent label. His biopic will focus on Yves during the years when he accomplished his definitive works (the decade ending his triumphant Ballet Russes collection in 1976); and Bonello is playing up his version as the "unauthorised" story – one which will portray Yves's truth, rather than Pierre's. It is the latest round in the battle for the designer's legacy. Since the late 90s some of the biggest names in fashion, from Lanvin's Alber Elbaz to Tom Ford , have spent periods at the label's helm; ultimately even the all-conquering Ford was defeated – simply, it seemed, not Yves enough.

Saint Laurent himself died of brain cancer in 2008; four years later Hedi Slimane – first hired as a menswear designer back in 1996 – returned to the house and immediately shortened the label's name to Saint Laurent. The move provoked an immediate storm of protest, and a surprisingly long-lived backlash: last autumn, Parisian store Colette fell out with the label over T-shirts which bore the slogan: AIN'T LAURENT WITHOUT YVES . It's not hard to understand the fascination with the YSL story, a saga that blends wild public success with private suffering. Outwardly Saint Laurent led a charmed life. By the age of 18, he had won an international design competition (beating future rival Karl Lagerfeld ) and been hired by fashion's reigning Sun King, Christian Dior . Lespert's film begins shortly after, with Yves enthroned as Dior's crown prince. As played by Pierre Niney, he is at once violently demanding and intensely shy, pampered and secure – as he had been in Algeria – in a world of adoring women.

But that sheltered, happy existence was soon to be shattered, with Dior's premature death in 1957 pushing his seemingly reluctant successor into the spotlight. Into the limelight: Yves Saint Laurent with models in 1962. Photograph: AFP Saint Laurent became an object of immediate fascination: quiet, timid, with neatly parted schoolboy hair, anxious eyes lurking behind thick glasses and a frail body encased in a tight black suit. L'Express hailed him as France's latest enfant triste – another of the country's new wave of melancholy prodigies, like novelist Françoise Sagan and painter Bertrand Buffet. Womens Wear Daily 's correspondent was more specific, and less charitable – she saw "an ugly, ungainly, overgrown boy with thick glasses, and so horribly shy he couldn't take his eyes off the floor". Charged, at 21, with safeguarding the future of the world's most successful fashion house, Saint Laurent began well: after his first, rapturously received collection, the International Herald Tribune's correspondent reported: "Everybody was crying.

It was the emotional fashion binge of all time." The rapturous reviews were soon followed by doubting ones, and two years later the House of Dior took advantage of Saint Laurent's military call-up to have their boy wonder replaced. Exiled from his Avenue Montaigne paradise, he fell apart and was admitted to mental hospital a bare three weeks after reporting for duty: a has-been at 24. But Yves was not alone. Shortly after his Dior début in 1958, he had met Buffet's then-boyfriend, Pierre Bergé, and embarked on a personal and professional relationship which would endure to the end of his life. Bergé got Yves out of hospital and back to work, helping to set up the label whose three sensuously entwined initials would revolutionise Parisian fashion in the 60s, scandalise the world in the 70s and stamp themselves imperiously across the 80s. From the outset, their roles were clear. Yves was the vulnerable, suffering artist and Pierre the fiercely controlling protector: a man who, in Lespert's film, is painfully aware of his public image – "the pimp who's found his all-star hooker".

And in the frail Niney, the director has found an actor perhaps more like Saint Laurent than Saint Laurent himself ever was: tortured, intense, and yet endearingly childlike as he stumbles out of couture's disciplined universe into the liberated decadence of the 60s. There are signs of a dark side, too; the jealous possessiveness of friends, the trembling fear of physical intimacy, the ability to work himself up into convenient hysterics at the slightest hint of pressure. And there are flashes of a strain of steel that few saw, or chose to see. "Yves was a very strong person," says Susan Train, Condé Nast's Parisian bureau chief and a friend of both Saint Laurent and Bergé. "But he was much happier to keep Pierre out in front, making all the noise and doing the barking and nipping at people's heels. Yves depended enormously on Pierre, and he would never have been the success he was without him." That success took time: the first Yves Saint Laurent show, in January 1962, received a moderate response. But in the years that followed, his star soared.

He created ideas that became overnight sensations and then timeless icons: the Mondrian-print shift dress, the Saharienne safari jacket, the Le Smoking trouser suit, Catherine Deneuve's Belle de Jour wardrobe. And in the mid-60s, his ready-to-wear Rive Gauche label became a global phenomenon, offering women an affordable slice of the YSL dream. The young, timid Yves had gone, replaced by a charming, seemingly assured man who was more than just a household name – like Coco Chanel, he had become his brand's most alluringly potent incarnation. Magazines captured images of Yves at play: partying with Halston and Warhol in New York, making mischief with muses such as Betty Catroux and Loulou de la Falaise in Paris, and relaxing with the kif-smoking jet set in Marrakech. His dark suits disappeared, replaced by luxuriously louche kaftans, silk shirts, suede jackets and leather trenchcoats. And when he stepped in front of Jeanloup Sieff 's lens to promote his first men's fragrance in 1971, he went nude.

His instructions were specific: "I want to create a scandal." The art of dressing: Le Smoking suit, 1967. Photograph: Reg Lancaster/Getty Images That image became a desperately effective mask. The paparazzi-friendly Yves who danced the night away in the 60s and 70s was high – on success, on fame and on an ever-changing cocktail of alcohol, acid and cocaine. Off camera there were fierce, increasingly violent rows with Pierre, who was struggling to keep both the business and Yves himself afloat. Ultimately Bergé would move out, unable to cope with Yves's utter self-absorption. As the years went on they both had other interests, other passions, other lovers (most notably Lagerfeld protégé Jacques de Bascher, whose affair with Yves added another dimension to the bitter Lagerfeld/Saint Laurent rivalry). They continued to function as a symbiotic double act to the end. And while Pierre became an increasingly belligerent spokesperson, Yves flinched away from the public gaze, exhausted by the fashion treadmill and yet apparently unable to stop. There were rumours of illness, of Aids, and regular premature reports of his death.

In his diaries Warhol recorded: "Loulou [de la Falaise] told us that YSL really was such a genius that he just can't take it, he has to take a million pills and the whole office gets so depressed when he's depressed…" Finally Yves simply withdrew: Pierre commented that his partner had "entered depression as one enters a religion". And, as ever, Bergé took care of everything. "Everything I didn't have, he had," Yves said in 2001. "His strength meant I could rest on him when I was out of breath." Even at his most extroverted moments, Yves had been shielded by his cabal of intimates; towards the end, his world was reduced to his studio on Avenue Marceau, the couple's holiday home in Marrakech and the cloistered apartment on Rue de Babylone to which fewer and fewer people were admitted. At the same time, he signed his name to everything from sunglasses to bed linens to cigarettes – and licensed a range of era-defining fragrances (Opium, Jazz, Kouros), which would keep YSL's name firmly in the spotlight as the man behind the initials slowly faded away.

If the two new films are likely to reveal anything it is this: the man himself remains an enigma. Early in Lespert's film, he confides in Bergé: "You know, I'm not that nice." And you sense that not-niceness remains the largely untold part of the Saint Laurent story – the man who could cut friends and supporters out of his life without a backward glance, who averted his gaze from unpleasantness and who sheltered behind Bergé's aggressive energy just as completely as he sheltered behind his thick-lensed glasses. Pierre Niney and Charlotte Lebon in the new film Yves Saint Laurent Photograph: Thibault Grabherr Yves was a genius, indulged and excused by a generation that believed that geniuses should live by different rules. In some respects that universe still endures in fashion, particularly in Paris: it's only been three years, after all, since John Galliano – another indulged Dior boy wonder – had his own startlingly public fall from grace.

Saint Laurent continued designing until 2002 – every show remorselessly measured against his past hits, and every final bow accompanied by the suspense of waiting to see whether he'd manage the short walk to the end of the runway. Lespert's film ends with Yves stumbling on to the runway, mouth slumped askew, eyes lost behind his glasses, his movement unsteady and uncertain. Which of the films will be closer to the 'truth'? It is hard to say. Even in life, Yves Saint Laurent spent decades lost behind a screen of conjecture and rumour: his story has long been more legend than fact.

Yves Saint Laurent is released on 21 March Andrew Pulver: French film about fashion designer faces strong competition from other foreign-language favourites, including the Dardenne brothers’ Two Days, One Night Published: 23 Sep 2014 Originally published in the Guardian on 8 January 2002: Veteran fashion designer to retire with control over his creative legacy Published: 8 Jan 2014 Peter Bradshaw: This second biopic of the fashion designer in as many years is cut from the same cloth as the first: swooning, self-absorbed and strangely lacking in any wider interest in society Published: 17 May 2014 Originally published in the Guardian on 21 November 1959: As Cyrano de Bergerac opens in the West End, the designer of the show's costumes says a few words Published: 18 Nov 2013 To the great YSL | Yatzer To the great YSL View all Photos YSL | Yves Henri Donat Dave Mathieu-Saint-Laurent (August 1, 1936 – June 1, 2008) PARIS (AFP) — Yves Saint Laurent, one

 of the great fashion designers of the 20th century who dressed some of the world's most glamorous women, has died at the age of 71 after a long illness.

Saint Laurent, who whose black trouser suits and safari jackets became a became an icon of women's liberation in the 1960s, died late Sunday, the Pierre-Berge-Saint Laurent Foundation. He had suffered poor mental and physical health for much of his life. The reclusive designer retired from haute couture in 2002 after four decades at the top, designing for French actress Catherine Deneuve and using supermodels such as Jerry Hall and Laetetia Casta to show off his clothes. French leaders and fashion chief hailed Saint Laurent as a fashion revolutionary. Pierre Berge, his former lover and longtime business partner, said: "He knew perfectly well that he had revolutionised haute couture, the important place he occupied in the second half of the 20th century." "One of the greatest names of fashion has disappeared, the first to elevate haute couture to the rank of art," said French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

" Yves Saint Laurent infused his label with his creative genius, elegant and refined personality, discrete and distinguished, during a half century of work, in both luxury and ready-to-wear, because he was convinced that beauty was a necessary luxury for all men and all women," Sarkozy said in a statement. French Prime Minister Francois Fillon called Saint Laurent an "artist of genius" who could turn "a sobre dinner jacket" into "a symbol of French elegance." During his farewell in 2002, Saint Laurent said he had "always given the highest importance of all to respect for this craft, which is not exactly an art, but which needs an artist to exist." One of a handful of designers who dominated 20th century fashion -- with Christian Dior, Coco Chanel and Paul Poiret -- Yves Henri Donat Mathieu Saint Laurent was born in Oran, Algeria, on August 1, 1936, when the North African country was a still French territory. A shy, lonely, child, he was taunted over his homosexuality and became fascinated by clothes, and already had a solid portfolio of sketches when he first arrived in Paris in 1953, aged 17.

Vogue editor Michel de Brunoff, who became a key supporter, was quickly won over, and published the images. The following year Saint Laurent won three of the four categories in a design competition in Paris -- the fourth went to his contemporary Karl Lagerfeld, now at Chanel. De Brunoff advised Christian Dior to hire him and he rapidly became heir apparent to the great couturier, taking over the house when Dior died suddenly three years later. However in 1960, Saint Laurent was called up to fight in his native Algeria, where an independence war was under way. Less than three weeks later he won an exemption on health grounds, but when he returned to Paris Dior had already found a replacement for him, Marc Bohan. With his associate Berge, Saint Laurent resolved to strike out on his own, with Berge taking care of the business side. Saint Laurent's success lay in the harmony he achieved between body and garment -- what he called "the total silence of clothing." He was also in the right place at the right time. He founded his own couture house at the start of the 1960s, at a time when the world was changing and there was a new appetite for originality.

Saint Laurent rode his luck through the rise of the youth market and pop culture fuelled by the economic boom of the 1960s, when women suddenly had more economic freedom. His name and the familiar YSL logo became synonymous with all the latest trends, highlighted by the creation of the Rive Gauche ready-to-wear label and perfume, as well as astute licensing deals for accessories and perfumes. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, he set the pace for fashion around the world, opening up the Japanese market and subsequently expanding to South Korea and Taiwan. But Saint Laurent's career was not without controversy. In 1971 a collection modelled on the styles of World War II Paris was slammed by some American critics, and his launch in the mid 1970s of a perfume called "Opium" brought accusations that he was condoning drug use. For fellow-designer Christian Lacroix, the reason for Saint Laurent's success was his astonishing versatility. There had, Lacroix said, been other great designers but none with the same range. "Chanel, Schiaparelli, Balenciaga and Dior all did extraordinary things.

But they worked within a particular style," he explained. " Yves Saint Laurentis much more versatile, like a combination of all of them." In his later years the depression that had haunted him all his life became more oppressive, and at his farewell bash in 2002 Saint Laurent admitted to having recourse to "those false friends which are tranquillisers and narcotics." Something to remember Yves Saint Laurent Le Smoking/Bay by Michael Zavros 195 x 250cm oil on canvas 2006 + Yves St. Laurent Wished He Was A Beatnik... Instead, We Got A Prince. Rare Interview by Susan Kirschbaum To the great YSL

Question: Which late fashion designer had the middle names Henri Donat Mathieu?
Answer: Yves St Laurent