Yves Saint Laurent dies

Fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent has died.

The 71-year-old Frenchman passed away in Paris yesterday (01.06.08).

Although no cause of death has been given, his close friend and business partner Pierre Berge said the designer had been ill for some time.

Reports suggest he was taken to hospital early last week and slipped into a coma on Wednesday (28.05.08).

Paying tribute to his friend, Pierre said Yves "knew that he had revolutionised fashion, that he had revolutionised the second half of the 20th century. His designs accompanied the evolution of women.

"Chanel gave women freedom. Yves Saint Laurent gave them power.

"But he was someone who was very shy and introverted, who had only very few friends and hid himself from the world."

French president Nicolas Sarkozy joined in with those paying tribute, saying he was a "creative genius", adding: "He was convinced that beauty was a luxury that every man and woman needed."

The designer was one of the first to make luxury labels accessible with a range of ready-to-wear collections.

He took over as head designer of Dior following its founder's death in 1957 before presenting his first collection under his own name in 1962, heading the first fashion house to be floated on the stock market in 1987.

He announced his retirement in 2002.

Yves also suffered from severe depression and underwent treatment for alcohol abuse, becoming increasingly withdrawn.

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