au revoir monsieur.

to many, the passing of one of fashion's brightest stars can mean nothing more than a weather report to some far away place which has little or no affect on them. but to many, including me, and i'm sure to the one's reading this, he was much much more than that. growing up in the eighties my first introduction to fashion was the over the top, unbelievable glamor of french haute couture. my mother used to have this dressmaker who lived with us and on the side she would get the local women from our neighborhood to rip out pages from magazines and bring it to our house so that the dressmaker could copy it for them (copyright infringement is basically non-existent in third world countries). i would look at the pictures the women brought over and over again and there was only one designer every women wished to be dressed by. yves saint laurent was probably the first designer who's name i actually memorized and never forgotten. it was through his work that i saw van gogh's "irises" dance on a model through lavish embroidery by lesage. or be amazed by how he made colours sing together. his ability to combine art, fashion, and a revolutionary approach to the way women dress appealed not to just socialites in europe and america, but in my little archipelago in the pacific called the philippines. being young at that time it never crossed my mind how this man can have such a profound effect on my adult life. when i finally realized that my interest in fashion wasn't a passing phase, i dove into it head on and tried to absorb as much about it through its history and how it impacted modern life. chanel might have been the great revolutionary, but saint laurent was the one who gave fashion its soul. in his work, its hard to miss the fervent passion he had for his craft. it was his life. and in this day and age when designers are so blasse about their work and pretend that what they do is trivial, no wonder its been so long since anyone has had as much impact as saint laurent, or dior, or balenciaga. the passing of saint laurent really does mark the end of an era. of days when fashion was more personal and meaningful. when a designer designs to change rather than adapt. saint laurent taught me to be passionate about what you do. it is that passion that will create change. and it is his passion that will always make him the king. i hope you finally find the peace that you've been looking for all you life. and thank you for everything.