The world lost the great gay designer on the first day of Pride Month.  Yves Saint Laurent (YSL) died at the age of 71 in Paris on June 1.  One wonders if the true "genius" of fashion even planned his own death day well, he seems to have designed practically everything else.

Laurent, the Frenchman who came out at the age of 55 in an interview in Le Figaro talking about his long affair with his lover and business partner Pierre Berge, is credited with making a huge impact upon the way both men and women dress and even shop for clothing, from his gender-bending pants suit for women and the classic men's tuxedo for women to his invention of designer label ready-to-wear acceptable worldwide.

Some even attribute the concept of "unisex fashion" to Laurent, the Algerian teenager who won a fashion contest and ended up in Paris working for Christian Dior who may or may not have been lovers, the verdict is still out on the truth.

And where did Laurent get his inspiration for his designs?

"He incorporated everything from the streets to the gay drag clubs into his designs," wrote Victoria Brownworth in her obituary (a lovely homage) in Philadelphia Gay News, June 6-12, 2008.

The list of firsts, his unique fashion innovation, created by Laurent is long and impressive. Besides the woman's pants suit, the woman's tuxedo and ready-to-wear, he created the see-through blouse, the safari jacket, the A-line skirt, the tie-neck blouse and the trim little knee-length skirt. Not to mention, the ball gowns!

It seems that I've always had Laurent in my own life. Years ago while teaching in New Hampshire and enjoying every so often escapes to Boston (my cultural epicenter for almost 20 years of my life) on one shopping spree I purchased three shirts, around $50 each, at a chic men's clothing boutique, all with the Laurent label.

While they were frightfully expensive in 1966, they became my favorite dress shirts for decades. In fact, I still have a two of them. I just could never throw them away.

My first designer bed sheets were YSL monogrammed geometric patterns in tans, chocolate browns and blues.  Over the years I couldn't avoid Laurent's designs whether it was a handful of ties, gloves, scarves, trousers, shirts, socks, sports wear, and a memorable black trench coat that I bought during an early visit to London (that's when the US dollar was worth a lot and Americans could actually spend money on clothes) that I wore until the garment simply fell apart--that was only after about 18 years!

For the past 15 years or more after an extensive and somewhat quasi-scientific smell testing, I've been wearing the same fragrance day in and day out, of course, I'm talking about the original "Kouros" by Laurent. I'm always getting compliments from total strangers asking me what fragrance I'm wearing. When I use anything else, there's literally no response.

Ultimately, I remember wearing Laurent's designs and ALWAYS feeling stylish and chic, never
consciously fashionable and trendy. Now that I think of it Laurent probably is the one who taught me to never let the clothes wear me and instead for me to wear the clothes.

Bravo, Laurent, for making me and many others, fashionistas, in the best of all possible ways!