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Fashion Legend Yves Saint Laurent Passes Away

Written by Allan Barger

A talent the of the calibre of Yves Saint Laurent is born maybe once in a genaration, ask even those who profess ignorance of fashion and amongst the labels they will be able to name are Dior, Gucci & YSL. Having headed up the first at the incredibly young age of twenty one, being bought out by the second in 1999 and retired from the third in 2002 he sits amongst the greatest designers of the 20th Century.

Saint Laurent made his first splash on the fashion scene aged seventeen, when he won first prize in a competition sponsored by the International Wool Secretariat for a cocktail dress which he designed.

A year later he was studying at the Chambre Syndicale School of Hate Couture. He was however only there for three months before being plucked up by another fashion legend Christion Dior who had been so impressed by the incredible talent exhibited by Saint Laurent that he hired him on the spot.

With the sudden death of Dior in 1957, Saint Laurent was named the Head of the design house at the age of 21, where he remained until 1962 bar for a disastrous tour of duty with the military during which he suffered a nervous breakdown. In 1962 he was released from Dior and with his partner Pierre Bergé started the house which bears his name.

YSL served to popularise trends such as the beatnik look, safari jackets, tight pants & tall thigh high boots. He also created the iconic women's tuxedo Le Smoking suit (pictured below), and was also the first to use a black models on the runway.

In 1983, he became the first living fashion designer to be honoured by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and later also with Pierre Bergé set up a foundation which traces the history of the design house with 15,000 indvidual pieces.

In 2001 he was awarded with the rank of Commander of the Légion d'Honneur by the then French president Jacques Chirac.

Yves Saint Laurent died yesterday at the age of 71.

Written: 1st June 2008 at 17.49

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