Death of an Idol

Couturier Yves Saint Laurent dies in Paris

On Monday night, one of the classics of the modern fashion world, Yves Saint Laurent, died in his home in Paris. A year ago, doctors discovered a brain tumor in the fashion designer: he died at the age of 71, two months before his birthday.

The death of the world famous couturier caused a wave of sympathy in France. For the fashion world, the death of Saint Laurent was a great loss, since he is considered one of the creators of modern style along with Christian Dior and Coco Chanel. "Mademoiselle Chanel will symbolize the first half of the 20th century, and Yves Saint Laurent - the second half. Chanel gave women freedom. Yves Saint Laurent gave them power," said Pierre Berger, a close friend and business partner of the fashion designer, who lived with him for many years years under one roof.

All the top officials of the French government hastened to express their condolences: President Nicolas Sarkozy, Prime Minister Francois Fillon and Minister of Culture Christine Albanel, as well as numerous colleagues and friends of the late fashion designer. “He was my idol and role model,” fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier shared with reporters. According to him, Saint Laurent "created a new vocabulary for the wardrobe of the modern woman." Indeed, it was Yves Saint Laurent who introduced the fashion for things that 40 years ago could not be imagined in a woman’s wardrobe: trouser suits, transparent blouses, safari-style jackets, as well as the couturier’s calling card - the famous women’s tuxedo, which initially caused a shock among the public and then became an integral element of modern fashion. For many years, actress Catherine Deneuve was Yves Saint Laurent's muse. It was he who came up with the famous elegant image of the film star for her on-screen and private life. Laurent was awarded an Oscar for his outfit as Deneuve in Luis Buñuel's film Belle de Jour. The Duchess of Windsor, billionaires Emma Rothschild and Christina Onassis, and actress Grace Kelly were dressed by him.

“The creations of couturier Yves Saint Laurent were true masterpieces and shocked modernity,” says another French fashion designer, Christian Lacroix. “I often remember how shocked I was as a child when I saw the cover of Paris-Match, which showed Yves Saint Laurent next to his bride in a short dress from his first Dior collection and a red coat,” the designer recalls.

Yves Saint Laurent was born on August 1, 1936 into an aristocratic family in the Algerian city of Oran. Already at the age of 19, Laurent won the competition for young designers, but he had to share first place with another young fashion designer named Lagerfeld. Thanks to his victory in the competition, the future couturier received a job as an assistant to Christian Dior. And in 1957 - after the death of Dior - Yves Saint Laurent headed the most famous French fashion house. The public enthusiastically accepted the new collections of the young fashion designer, but the owner of the House of Dior was dissatisfied with Saint Laurent’s too “revolutionary” approach to clothing style. Thus, after the couturier went to serve in the army, the fashion house was headed by a more conservative clothing designer. Service in the army did not pass without a trace for Yves Saint Laurent: before serving his full term, he ended up in a psychiatric hospital and became addicted to alcohol and drugs for the rest of his life. However, despite all the misadventures, Laurent did not lose his talent and in 1962 he founded his own fashion house, Yves Saint Laurent, where he created his unique collections. In addition, in 1977, Yves Saint Laurent released his famous perfume “Opium”, which was banned in the USA and China due to the name allegedly promoting drugs. In addition to his main activity, Laurent painted for humor columns and created costumes and sets for the theater, ballet and films.

In 2002, Yves Saint Laurent decided to retire and retire. “I sought to embody in fashion the freedom that the 20th century brought,” the master summed up at his farewell fashion show six years ago at the Center Georges Pompidou.

Nina GUGUSHVILI