Je Ne Regrette Rien

Yves Saint Laurent, indisputably one of the greatest fashion designers in history, died on Sunday at his home in Paris.  He was 71.

He was born with a nervous breakdown, according to his closest friend and business partner, Pierre Bergé. He was also born with talent and creativity that were immense and staggering.

His influence on fashion is chronicled in an article in WWD today, complete with tributes from Oscar dela Renta, Marc Jacobs, Jean-Paul Gaultier and Vera Wang.  Nothing as yet from Tom Ford though, who took over as designer for YSL Rive Gauche when Saint Laurent and Bergé sold their company to the Gucci Group in 1999.  Saint Laurent continued to design the couture collections until 2002, when he took his final, tearful bow and retired from the world of fashion.

At the end of October 2002, Saint Laurent left his atelier and his office for the last time. “I am much more at peace now,” he told WWD, adding he had no regrets. “I am not sad — just nostalgic.”

He retreated from the limelight but did not fade into obscurity.  He devoted his time to the foundation he and Bergé set up - The Yves Saint Laurent Foundation.

Over the next six years, the designer would devote himself to the foundation, mounting exhibitions culled from the house’s vast archives. He would appear in public occasionally, always saying he was glad to be out of fashion.

 

After all, as Saint Laurent said in a phrase that could serve as his mantra, “Fashions fade. Style is eternal.” 

(Photo by Peter Turnley/Crobis, from WWD)