Pioneering fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent, who famously wove everything from pants to peasant clothes to leopard prints into the everyday wardrobes of women, and who adroitly evolved his designs over several decades, died in Paris of unknown causes. He was 71. Laurent "had been ill for some time," according to Agence France-Presse. The hugely influential designer retired in 2002. The cause of death has not been released, but according to the BBC, "Yves St Laurent suffered mental and physical ill health for much of his life and he appeared in public only rarely." The Times obit concludes with this quote: "I have known fear and the terrors of solitude. I have known those fair-weather friends we call tranquilizers and drugs. I have known the prison of depression and the confinement of hospital. But one day, I was able to come through all of that, dazzled yet sober." [AFP, Times]

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