Saint Laurent was known for putting women into 'men's clothes' such as elegant pantsuits [AFP]

Pierre Berge, Saint Laurent's business associate for four decades and former romantic partner, said on Sunday that he had died at his Paris home following a long illness.
 
Saint Laurent announced his retirement in 2002 at age 65 and closed the Paris-based haute couture house he had founded 40 years earlier.
 
He is known for putting women into "men's clothes", such as elegant pantsuits and tuxedo jackets.
 
In his own words, Saint Laurent said he felt "fashion was not only supposed to make women beautiful, but to reassure them, to give them confidence, to allow them to come to terms with themselves".
 
When he bowed out of fashion in 2002, Saint Laurent spoke of his battles with depression, drugs and loneliness, although he gave no indication that those problems were directly tied to his decision to stop working.
 
"I've known fear and terrible solitude," he said. "Tranquilizers and drugs, those phoney friends. The prison of depression and hospitals. I've emerged from all this, dazzled but sober."

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