Bianca on Yves Saint Laurent

Bianca: “I met him for the first time when I went to see him at his office at rue Spontini, as I wanted him to design my wedding dress. I was living in Paris as a young student and I wore his Rive Gauche designs because I couldn’t afford his couture.

I went to see him with Mick - he was dressed by Yves, too, though people never seem to remember that. I had a very clear idea of what I wanted as a wedding dress. Contrary to popular wisdom, it wasn’t a trouser suit: it was a long, narrow skirt and a jacket. He made the wide-brimmed hat with a veil and we decided that instead of carrying a bouquet I should wear a flower corsage on my wrist to go with the suit. It was always a pleasure to be dressed by Yves. I remember when we went to the wedding of Loulou de la Falaise I was wearing a long, pale dress and he decorated it with ferns, putting his mark on it.

I was interested in how his clothes were made because the fit was always perfect. I watched his tailor adapt the seams of a jacket for me, and from then on whenever anyone made me a jacket, I would use what I had learned. I remember one time when I had lunch with him I was wearing a Dior suit. Yves looked at me and said: ‘You know, your suit looks like my design, but I don’t remember ever using that cloth.’ I didn’t tell him it was Dior.

To see his influence you just have to look at the women who now wear trouser suits, influenced by his classic designs - everyone from Hillary Clinton to French justice minister Rachida Dati. It was part of my liberation to be able to wear trouser suits because it makes life so easy. Trouser suits are practical, but they are only elegant when they are well cut, and Yves’s were very well cut. Yves to me was a great architect. I’ve been dressed by many designers in my life, but no one understood women’s bodies and how to make clothes in the same way.

He was a complex and cultured individual. He was a great lover of opera and art - one of his most famous designs is the Mondrian shirtdress from 1965. I met up with him and Andy Warhol when Yves made one of his infrequent trips to America - he was influenced by Andy, too. What I will always remember him for, though, is his thirst for cultures, his vision of the world. That different outlook came in part from his own life - he was born and raised in Algiers, and then split his time between his houses in Paris and Marrakech. He went from Russia with the Ballets Russes collection to Arab countries to America in what he designed; he had an open mind to the world and to people. He made black models not just acceptable but proud of their looks. There was a wonderful quote in one of the tributes to Yves after his death from the Martinique-born model Mounia when she said that Yves made her proud of her colour.

I last saw him in Paris not long before he died. I knew that he was quite ill. I was there to give a speech and he sent me a lovely note and some beautiful flowers - he had great taste about anything he did, from his houses and art collection to the flowers he sent.

I was heartbroken when I learned he’d passed away. Just to meet him and talk to him was always a pleasure. He was a fascinating person, very touching, vulnerable and fragile. He’s irreplaceable”