The fashion world was saddened today, on hearing the news that the much loved French icon Yves Saint Laurent died last night in his Parisian home.

(Photo taken in 1966 with actress and muse Catherine Deneuve)

Reports suggest that he died after battling a year long fight with brain cancer.

The sad news came as a shock to designers and fashionistas alike with, Stella McCartney, Vogue’s Editorial Director Nancy Pilcher and SATC star Sarah Jessica Parker expressing their condolences today.

YSL had, to those on the outside, a fabulous life. Credited for changing the face of women’s fashion, Yves Saint Laurent would go on to create the infamous 1966 ‘Le Smoking Suit’, that essentially liberated a woman to be able to wear trouser suits without the loss of her femininity.

YSL’s designs were unique and inspired, with his work regularly emulating the current art scene, a trait that didn’t go unnoticed by New York’s, Metropolitan Museum of Art, who honoured the designer for his creations.

With a fan base loyal and strong, Yves Saint Laurent had dressed everyone from celebrities to dignitaries, fashionistas to royalty. Even when troubling mental health issues looked like they would get the better of the designer, he refused to succumb to them, preferring to throw himself into his designs and his love of fashion.

For the man who once said:

“All a woman needs to be beautiful is a black pullover, a black skirt and to be arm in arm with a man she loves”

His passing leaves an empty space in the fashion world, which right now, seems near impossible to replace.

‘Le Smoking’