Fashion giant Yves Saint Laurent dies at 71

FRANCE: 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."

Paris, Monday, AFP