Yves Saint Laurent dies at 71

PARIS (AP) - Yves Saint Laurent _ one of the most influential and enduring designers of the 20th century, putting ladies in pants to make them freer but no less feminine _ will be remembered for empowering women through his fashion.

Saint Laurent, 71, died Sunday night at his Paris home after a yearlong battle with brain cancer, said Pierre Berge, Saint Laurent's close friend and business partner for four decades.
«Chanel gave women freedom,» and Saint Laurent «gave them power,» Berge said on France-Info radio. He called Saint Laurent a «true creator» who went beyond the aesthetic to make a social statement.
«In this sense, he was a libertarian, an anarchist and he threw bombs at the legs of society,» he said. «That's how he transformed society and that's how he transformed women.

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