The departure of the legendary maestro in fashion at age 71 in June of this year had aroused much sorrow all around the world. His funeral, held at the Eglise Saint-Roche in Paris, was attended by guests such as French President Nicolas Sarkozy, First Lady Carla Bruni, Saint Laurent’s mother, Paris mayor Bertrand Delanoe, Madame Chirac, Saint Laurent’s longtime business partner and lover, Pierre Bergé and other notable designers including Christian Lacroix, Jean Paul Gaultier, John Galliano, Valentino, Hubert de Givenchy, Sonia Rykiel, Kenzo Takada and Alber Elbaz. Over 1,000 people gathered on the streets around the Louvre in Paris to bid adieu to one of the 20th century’s greatest couturiers for one last time. Despite this vast crowd, German-born fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld was notably missing amongst the audience at the occasion. This further showed the extent of the feud between the pair, which began with jealousy over success and now ended cynically with death without goodbye.

Saint Laurent was cremated before close friends and family and his ashes were sent to a garden in Marrakesh, Morocco at a house he bought with Bergé – a place that offered both inspiration and sanctuary to the fashion icon.

Although the French fashion designer has left us in presence, his legacy lives on in the way that he helped to define French chic and that he has revolutionised woman’s dress code with his dangerous highly-sexually-charged designs. He often infused ethnic themes in his collections with vivid colours juxtaposed with stark black. His daywear had a slight masculine touch; whereas, fantasy is an element that never imparts his eveningwear.

While the Mondrian dresses made of colourful blocks inspired by the Dutch contemporary artist of the same name, the trapeze dress, the safari look and the military style have made him a notable figure; his most celebrated achievement is no doubt the way he has empowered women by designing womenswear that were once exclusively worn by men with influence and extreme power. This include the square-shouldered silhouette as well as the eminent ‘le smoking’ tuxedo suit designed in a long, minimalist, androgynous styles for women. The aesthetics behind ‘le smoking’ and its expression were most notably captured by the renowned Photographer Helmut Newton.

His influence on fashion is not only evident under his own label, which is now under the creative direction of Stefano Pilato; but also widely amongst the industry, including Gucci, where designer Frida Gianini infused tropical breezes on Yves Saint Laurent’s celebrated safari dresses for the Spring/Summer Ready-to-wear 2009 Collection.