Adieu to Mr. Le Smoking

It seems that the dark skies hovered over the glitz and glamor-laden fashion world yesterday. Legendary fashion designer and fashion icon Yves Saint Laurent passed away peacefully in his beloved city of eternal romance and love, Paris.

Saint Laurent, 71, died after battling a long illness, said Pierre Berge, Saint Laurent's close friend and business partner since the last 40 years. Looking back to his prolific past, Yves Saint Laurent was one of the fashion authorities that shaped fashion to what it is now.

An illustrious visionary with a strong vision in inventing and innovating style to a higher extent, it was Laurent's breakthrough "Le Smoking" suit, which he conceived in 1966, that made women unafraid to wear pantsuits without sacrificing their feminine side or in other words, looking like their male counterparts.

In fact, before Ralph Lauren popularize the Safari look in the 80's, it was Saint Laurent's illustrious idea that made safari jacket and for men and women accepted as a part of fashion staple back in the 1960's and 1970's, about two decades before Ralph Lauren took the step.

Apart from that, Saint Laurent too was among the first couturier in the world to propel pret-a-porter or ready-to-wear into global prominence, which was then followed by other haute couture brands such as Dior, Chanel, Nina Ricci, and Vionnet.

Of course, who could ever forget the time when he decided to retire from the industry with a bang. In front of thousands of fashionistas and participated by the original supermodels of the world, Saint Laurent staged his final haute couture collection in 2002.

At the same time, it also marked the end of its haute couture atelier that he conceived back in 1962, right after being released from his Creative Director post at the Dior (he acquired the post at 21 shortly after the death of Monsieur Christian Dior in Italy).

Though he no longer be with us on earth, his legacy and fashion spirit will continue to roam the fashion world and like his predecessors Chanel and Christian Dior, he will always be remembered for his innovative style inventions as long as we could live and breathe. May God bless his soul and let him rest in peace.

*Photos courtesy of AP and Style.com.

Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche - Level 2, Couture Pavilion, Pavilion KL, Jalan Bukit Bintang, 55100, Kuala Lumpur.