Originally published June 2, 2008 at 12:00 AM | Page modified June 2, 2008 at 3:30 PM
Obituary
Paris fashion icon Yves Saint Laurent, 71
Yves Saint Laurent, who exploded on the fashion scene in 1958 as the boy-wonder successor to Christian Dior and endured as one of the best-known...
The New York Times
Yves Saint Laurent, who exploded on the fashion scene in 1958 as the boy-wonder successor to Christian Dior and endured as one of the best-known and most influential couturiers of the second half of the 20th century, died Sunday in Paris after a long illness. He was 71.
During a career that ran from 1957 to 2002, he was largely responsible for changing the way women dress, putting them into pants both day and night, into peacoats and safari jackets, into leopard prints, trench coats and, for a time, peasant-inspired clothing in rich fabrics.
Mr. Saint Laurent often sought inspiration on the streets, bringing the Parisian beatnik style to couture runways and adapting the sailors' peacoats into jackets that found their way into women's wardrobes around the world. His glamorous evening clothes were often adorned with appliqués and beadwork inspired by artists like Picasso, Miro and Matisse. Above all, he was a master colorist, able to mix green, blue, rose and yellow in one outfit to achieve an effect that was artistic and never garish.
Mr. Saint Laurent achieved instant fame in 1958 at the age of 21 when he showed his Trapeze collection, his first for Christian Dior after the master's death. But unlike many overnight sensations, Mr. Saint Laurent managed to remain at the top as fashion changed from an emphasis on formal, custom-made haute couture to casual sportswear.
Originally a maverick — in 1968, his suggestion that women wear pants as an everyday uniform was considered revolutionary — he developed into a more conservative designer, a believer in evolution rather than revolution. He often said that all a woman needed to be fashionable was a pair of pants, a sweater and a raincoat.
"My small job as a couturier," he once said, "is to make clothes that reflect our times. I'm convinced women want to wear pants."
When Mr. Saint Laurent retired in 2002 at age 65 and closed the Paris-based haute couture house he had founded 40 years earlier, it was mourned in the fashion world as the end of an era. His ready-to-wear label, Rive Gauche, which was sold to Gucci in 1999, still has boutiques around the world.
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
Obituary: Edmonds Councilmember Peggy Pritchard Olson dies at 59
Civic activist grew up in Bellevue
Joseph Wheeler put Port Townsend on the arts map
Obituary: Longtime Newport coach John Fullerton dies

Ken Auletta talks about "Googled"
Ken Auletta talks about Google with Brier Dudley at the Seattle Central Library.
nwjobs

Post a comment

Michelle Goodman blogs about work/life balance.
How to tell your office you're gravely ill
Post a comment
nwautos

Choosing a new sedan? Weigh the impact of your choice on your wallet and on the planet.
Post a comment
- 'Missing' SeaTac man found with new name, in new state
- Police: DNA from officer's slaying matches suspect
- Lt. governor's son shot by co-worker in Kent; gunman then shot self
- DNA, ballistics tie man to cop killing, police say
- McGinn next Seattle mayor; Mallahan concedes as vote gap widens
- Prosecutors consider charges against suspect in police shooting
- Three more fires ignite in Greenwood
- Trucker dies as big-rig plummets off SF bridge
- Steve Kelley | Hasselbeck gives Seahawks' sagging season a stay of execution
- Huskies are finding talent in Tacoma
- Prosecutors prepare charges against suspect in police shooting
264 - King County OKs 'don't ask' law on immigration
225 - Pelosi tours Seattle's Swedish after health-care vote
210 - McGinn more than doubles his lead over Mallahan
192 - Resolute Fort Hood soldiers ready for return
131 - Obama pressed into role as national healer
109 - Time to bring Ken Griffey Jr. back in 2010
98 - 'Missing' SeaTac man found with new name, in new state
97 - Josh Smith picks UCLA
85 - DNA, ballistics tie man to cop killing, police say
84
- For 80-year-old Maple Valley man, hoops aren't just a dream
- Plans call for Triangle to become West Seattle gateway
- 'Missing' SeaTac man found with new name, in new state
- Three more fires ignite in Greenwood
- Silver Lake restaurant destroyed by fire
- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tours Seattle's Swedish after health-care vote
- Pakistani-American cafe, bar owner on verge of being Granite Falls mayor
- All You Can Eat | Fruit flies: thrill to the kill
- McGinn next Seattle mayor; Mallahan concedes as vote gap widens
- Rainier Pacific Financial calls rescue 'unlikely'








