Pierre Bergé: Hard-headed 'angel' behind YSL dies aged 86

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The French fashion tycoon Pierre Bergé, best known as the business brains behind the Yves Saint Laurent empire, died on Friday aged 86.

Bergé, the longtime partner of the late designer Yves Saint Laurent, died in his sleep at his country home at Saint-Remy-de-Provence in southern France, his foundation said.

The couple – Bergé acting as the hard-headed foil to Saint Laurent's mercurial genius – turned the fashion world on its head when they set up their own label in 1961 after the fragile designer had fallen foul of Dior.

Pierre Bergé and Yves Saint Laurent /Sina Fashion Photo

Besides for being a passionate philanthropist and art collector, Bergé was also a tireless campaigner for gay rights and donated a large part of his fortune to AIDS research.

Former French culture minister Jack Lang led the tributes to a man he called a "true prince of the arts and culture," a business "angel" who backed a host of noble causes.

"France has lost an exceptional person," said the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo. Bergé and Saint Laurent – whose tumultuous relationship was the subject of two films – were joined in a civil union a few days before the designer died of a brain tumor in 2008 aged 71.

Fragile designer's 'rock'

Bergé was the designer's rock, always there to pick up the pieces for a man who – despite his infidelities and addictions – he firmly believed was "the world's greatest fashion designer of the second half of the 20th century."

Two museums he masterminded, dedicated to Saint Laurent's life and work, are to open in Paris and Morocco this year.

Born on November 14, 1930 on the Ile d'Oleron off France's west coast, Bergé was a particularly French self-made man, as passionate about culture as he was about making money.

The son of a teacher and a tax inspector, he made his first few francs as a student bibliophile in run down postwar Paris by buying and selling secondhand books.

At the same time he was befriending the Paris literati, particularly Jean Cocteau and Jean Giono, and became the unofficial agent of the French artist Bernard Buffet, an act which hugely benefited his career.

Over the years Bergé built up a large art collection and one of the world's greatest private libraries, which he was in the process of selling when he died.

Source(s): AFP