Fashion King: 20th Century's Greatest Designer Would Have Celebrated 90th Birthday This Year

In a poignant 2002 farewell, Yves Saint Laurent, widely hailed as the 20th century's preeminent fashion designer, announced his retirement. Speaking from his Paris salon, his voice trembling, he read from a paper, stating, "I have decided today to say goodbye to the profession I loved so much." He reflected on his contribution to creating the wardrobe of the modern woman and influencing his time. However, he also candidly revealed the darker side of his life, admitting to confronting loneliness, tranquilizers, drugs, depression, and hospitalization, from which he ultimately emerged, sober but forever marked by the experience.

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I have decided today to say goodbye to the profession I loved so much.

Saint Laurent, born Yves Henri Donat Mathieu-Saint-Laurent on August 1, 1936, in Oran, French Algeria, was the son of an insurance agent and his wife. He grew up in a privileged environment but faced relentless bullying from peers due to his sensitive and effeminate nature. This difficult childhood led him to seek refuge in the world of his own creation. At thirteen, inspired by a theatrical performance, he built a miniature theater with hand-painted sets and paper dolls, for whom he designed costumes, sometimes using fabric secretly taken from his mother's dresses.

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I am proud that women around the world wear suits, tuxedos, naval and trench coats. I tell myself that I have created the wardrobe of the modern woman, that I have contributed to the change of my time.

His mother recognized his burgeoning talent and took him to Paris in 1954 for a pivotal meeting with Michel de Brunhoff, the editor of French Vogue. Saint Laurent's aptitude was evident even earlier; at seventeen, he won third prize in a wool design competition. In November 1954, his design for a little black cocktail dress secured first prize in a competition that drew thousands of entries. This winning creation was made in the atelier of Hubert de Givenchy. That same evening, Karl Lagerfeld, then 21, won first prize in the coat category.

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I have known the fear and horrors of loneliness. I have known those false friends we call tranquilizers and drugs. I have known the prison of depression and the walls of a hospital. But somehow I managed to get out of it all. Permanently blinded by what I went through, but in the end - sober.