By Martin Weil
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, June 2, 2008
Yves Saint Laurent, 71, the French clothing designer who was an emperor of world fashion and was credited with revolutionizing the way women looked and were looked upon, died yesterday at his home in Paris.
His ready-to-wear label had been sold years ago, and he had been retired for more than five years. A longtime friend said his death followed a long illness.
A hero in his country, a celebrity among the fashionable of the world, the bespectacled Saint Laurent made contributions to both couture and ready-to-wear that gave him the status of legend. The successor to Christian Dior, he was throughout the latter part of the 20th century a reigning eminence in his field -- trailblazer and trendsetter, iconoclast and icon.
Perhaps none of the celebrated designers of his time was more closely associated with the introduction and acceptance of trousers as business and formal attire for women.
He was closely associated with the introduction of the woman's tuxedo and the women's trouser suit.
Once considered mildly scandalous, pants for women have become commonplace at virtually all levels of contemporary life, from the office to the Oscars. Their symbolic meaning is inescapable, and much of it is traced directly to Saint Laurent.
"I wanted to put myself at women's disposal," he once said, "To serve them, to serve their bodies, their gestures, their life."
Working with pencil and paper, cloth, thread and scissors, Saint Laurent was credited with reflecting the social changes of his times in his clothing designs. At the same time that he depicted change, he also was described as helping to create it, with looks that suggested peasants and workers, ranchers and fishermen, beatniks and travelers who roamed the African veld.
His peacoats and safari jackets were widely known, followed over the years by such signature styles as trapeze dresses, with their narrow shoulders and wide hemline; the "chic beatnik" look, which featured turtlenecks; and cowboy-inspired jackets with squared shoulders and fringe.
For women who sought something more, he produced "le smoking," a feminine version of the tuxedo, as well as pinstripe suits, turbans, scarves, trench coats and the black leather jacket -- once seen as exclusive to men.
His costumes for Catherine Deneuve for the 1967 film "Belle de Jour" were regarded as landmarks.
After making a splash as a maverick and outsider, he grew increasingly conventional, fashion observers reported, and was a designer to the famous. He was favored, it was said, by such figures as Jacqueline Kennedy, Elizabeth Taylor and the former empress of Iran.
Although much of his work seemed to elevate form over function, particularly in the early days, designs associated with him and emblazoned with his YSL monogram also found their way into the workaday attire of men and women throughout the world.
Often inspired by the objects of everyday life, his clothes -- noted for their cut, color and craftsmanship -- returned the favor and went on to inspire the looks and styles adopted by the multitude.
The son of a successful lawyer, Saint Laurent was born in Oran, Algeria, on Aug. 1, 1936. Described as quiet and retiring throughout his childhood, he showed an interest in theater, sets and costumes at an early age. After completing his secondary studies, he went to Paris to look for work in theatrical design.
His fashion sketches soon attracted attention, and in 1953, one of them was presented to Dior, the great figure in French fashion design. By mere chance, one of the sketches seemed to anticipate work that Dior was about to reveal. Saint Laurent was quickly taken on by the great master.
The two worked closely for three years, with Dior describing Saint Laurent as "my right arm." Shortly after Dior's death, Saint Laurent was named chief designer for the House of Dior.
In an event that might have been possible only in France, Saint Laurent's first showing in his new role, in January 1958, generated headlines and passionate enthusiasm that spilled into the streets. As admiring crowds looked up, Saint Laurent stood on the balcony of his fashion house, blowing kisses.
One collection followed another, to general approval. In 1960, he was called up for compulsory military service. He had twice been deferred because his job was deemed essential.
A few days after his induction, he suffered what was described as a nervous collapse and was hospitalized. During his long recuperation, he was replaced by Marc Bohan at Dior. After recovering, he opened his own house. Its first show came in 1962 and was widely hailed.
It seemed to students of fashion that he was in a new, less extreme phase; soon his designs were receiving the ultimate compliment of being copied by other Paris couturiers.
In 1966, Saint Laurent opened Rive Gauche, a ready-to-wear division that capitalized on the cachet of his name. The same year, he broke ground in women's evening wear by introducing the evening pantsuit fashioned like a tuxedo.
It was generally accepted in the world of fashion that no designer had greater impact on how clothing was cut, shaped and sold.
Saint Laurent was described as retiring, almost reclusive, and his 2002 retirement news conference was believed to be his first.
He said then that he aimed not merely to embellish the appearance of women, but to empower them, "to reassure them, to give them confidence, to enable them to assert themselves."
His retirement was regarded as so significant that the French newspaper Le Monde said it plunged the fashion world into confusion.
Success was not without its hazards; at his valedictory, he spoke of "aesthetic phantoms" and he reportedly had problems with drugs and drink, the demands of fame and the need to be perpetually creative.