Yves Saint Laurent, was one of the most influential and enduring designers of the 20th century, he empowered women through his fashion. Saint Laurent died yesterday at his Paris home. He was 71. There is a famous saying in the fashion industry that goes like this: "Chanel gave women freedom" and Saint Laurent "gave them power." He was a libertarian, an anarchist and he transformed women and the way society views women. He was considered the last of a generation among Christian Dior and Coco Chanel from the set who have their never ending influence not only on fashion industry but on everyone's day to day life. He created instant classics that remain stylish decades later.
His most famous contributions are: The famous YSL tuxedo, the trim pantsuits, the see-through blouses, the safari jackets and glamorous gowns.

Saint Laurent was born Aug. 1, 1936, in Oran, Algeria, his father was a shipping executive. At the age of 17, he won first prize in a contest sponsored by the International Wool Secretariat for a cocktail dress design. A year later in 1954, he enrolled at the Chambre Syndicale school of haute couture, but it lasted only three months. He was introduced to Christian Dior and Dior was so impressed with Saint Laurent's talent that he hired him on the spot. When Dior died suddenly in 1957, Saint Laurent was named head of the House of Dior at the age of 21. He opened his own haute couture fashion house with Berge in 1962. The pair later started a chain of Rive Gauche ready-to-wear boutiques. Saint Laurent's simple navy blue pea coat over white pants, which the designer first showed in 1962, was one of his hallmarks. His "smoking," or tuxedo jacket, of 1966 remade the tux as a high fashion statement for both sexes. It remained the designer's trademark item and was updated yearly until he retired.
Saint Laurent's rising star was eternalized in 1983, when the Metropolitan Museum of Art devoted a show to his work, the first ever to a living designer. He was awarded the Legion d'Honneur in 1985.
"I've known fear and terrible solitude," he said. "Tranquilizers and drugs, those phony friends. The prison of depression and hospitals. I've emerged from all this, dazzled but sober."