Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Celebrities he clothed and designers he inspired gathered for the funeral of Yves Saint Laurent in Paris today.
Stars, couturiers and President Nicolas Sarkozy filed into the Saint-Roche church for a final homage to the renowned fashion designer four days after he died of brain cancer at the age of 71.
First lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, a former model who strutted the catwalks to show off Saint Laurent's collections, accompanied her husband, the French president. Both wore black, the funereal color that also was the designer's preferred shade.
Actress Catherine Deneuve and designers Vivienne Westwood, Jean Paul Gaultier, Sonia Rykiel and John Galliano were among luminaries in the crowd, as was Farah Diba Pahlavi, the exiled widow of the Shah of Iran.
Applause rose among the guests as Saint Laurent's casket was taken into the flower bedecked church near the Louvre Museum and Tuileries Gardens and placed before the altar, draped in a decorated yellow cloth.
Saint Laurent was among the most influential designers during the most important era of Parisian fashion. He made changed the way women dressed, most enduringly by making it glamorous and feminine to wear pants.
"He changed couture through his art," said the Rev. Roland Letteron, considered a priest of artists, during the service. Saint Laurent used the art of fashion, Letteron said, "to expose the grandeur of life. ... It is more than brocade he prints on silk. It is light."
Saint Laurent's body will be cremated and his ashes kept in the Majorelle botanical garden near a home in Marrakech, Morocco, that he and Pierre Berge, his business partner and friend of 40 years owned.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments