Yves Henri Donat Mathieu
Saint Laurent
(1936 - living) Francia
Fashion designer
Born and raised in Oran, Algeria to French parents. His talent for design became evident as a teenager and at the tender age of 17, he left for Paris with the determination to work in a major fashion house. Soon after, he was employed by Christian Dior, the most successful fashion designer of the period. Although also Dior was homosexual, the relationship with his young assistant was of a strictly professional nature. After Dior's death in 1957, the 21-year-old Saint Laurent was appointed chief designer of the Dior company, then France's largest and most prestigious fashion house.
 In 1958, Saint Laurent met and fell in love with the entrepreneur Pierre Bergé. his lifelong personal association rapidly became also a professional one, as Bergé assumed the financial, marketing and day-to-day affairs of a new venture, established in 1961, and centered around the haute couture house named after Saint Laurent.
The creation of an international chain of boutiques, retailing exclusive, ready-made garments under the label Saint Laurent Rive Gauche (established in 1966) was the best organised and most successful effort among their Paris contemporaries.
Other areas in which Saint Laurent has achieved considerable sucess include theatre and film design, as well as men's fashion. For all his success, Saint Laurent is painfully shy and reclusive by nature. In 1985, then President of France, François Mitterand, decorated Saint Laurent with the Knighthood of the Legion of Honor.
He came out in 1991. With a fashion empire in place, Saint Laurent announced his retirement in 2002. Although he will continue to provide his input from time to time, he will retreat to his houses in Paris, Marrakech and Tangier.
Excerpts from: Aldrich R. & Wotherspoon G., Who's Who in Contemporary Gay and Lesbian History, from WWII to Present Day, Routledge, London, 2001 - et alii
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