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Yves Saint Laurent biography
by Siizy Patterson
AP Fashion Writer
(AP) — Widely hailed as the king of haute
couture, Yves Saint Laurent is now the subject of a
candid new biography which juxtaposes his genius
with an often tormented private life.
Saint Laurent and his associates, who cooper
ated with the author, are unhappy with the final
product, which offers detailed accounts of the
designer’s homosexuality, his battles with depres
sion and his problems with drugs and alcohol.
The book, “Yves Saint Laurent,” was written
by Laurence Benaim, 31-year-old fashion editor of
Le Monde, and published by Editions Grasset.
There are no definite plans yet for an English
edition.
• For the 472-page biography, Benaim was
given full cooperation from the Saint Laurent fash
ion house, including access to company files, inter
views with the couturier himself and introductions
to many of his friends and associates.
“Yves Saint Laurent just started reading the
book, and is not happy at all,” said Christian
Girard, secretary-general of the company and right-
hand man to its president, Pierre Berge. “We are all
quite disappointed, and Pierre Berge is particularly
upset.”
“I don’t understand why they’re upset,” Benaim
said in a telephone interview. “The house was
friendly, gave me the run of their wonderfully
organized archives, and helped me all the way for
the two years it took to write the book.”
However, Girard said, “We feel the book lacks
depth, subtlety and clout on the cultural level.” He
said he thought that Benaim did not get to know
Saint Laurent and his friends well enough, and
contended the book was too “American” in its
approach, pandering to a thirst for sensationalism.
Overall, however, the biography takes a seri
ous, sometimes awe-struck approach to 57-year-
old Yves Mathieu Saint Laurent, and his prodigious
output since he first started designing for Christian
Dior in the late 1950s.
His father was a businessman and his mother,
Lucienne, a coquettish beauty interested in fash
ion.
Saint Laurent remembers being unhappy at
school and scorned by other children as a “sissy,”
but he already was interested in fashion, occasion
ally rifling his mother’s wardrobe to tear up an old
dress to make a doll’s outfit.
Saint Laurent’s progression from early inter
est in art up through the sensational collections at
Dior in 1957-58 are well-chronicled, as are all his
later designs.
“I built the biography around his collections,”
Benaim said. The author recounts Saint Laurent’s
1960 nervous breakdown while serving in the
French army during the Algerian war of indepen
dence, his patronage of chic gay nightclubs in Paris
and his relationship with Berge, without indulging
in lascivious details.
His friends and employees, from press atta
che to chauffeur, speak throughout the book,
usually with affection and sympathy.
Benaim also weaves in the various business
maneuvers of the fashion house, from the early
1960s up to the latest sale of most Saint Laurent
shares to Sanofi, a pharmaceuticals-petrochemical
company.
Saint Laurent speaks for himself in an intro
spective March 1993 interview with Benaim.
On early homosexuality, he says: “I went with
anonymous people. Arabs. It was hidden. 1 was
ashamed ... and said nothing to my parents.”
He conveys his anguish about presenting
collections, his worries about his health, his ideas
on money.
"1 couldn’t live without making dresses,” he
says. “Without that, I’d die.”
“It was a labor of love to write this book,"
Benaim said. “He inspires a kind of passior., has
tried nearly everything in life, and hates conform
ism.”
“There are so many fashion phonies around
today,” he said. “Saint Laurent remains true to
himself. ”▼
Shanti Project names new head
in aftermath of scandal
(AP)—The Shanti Project, a leading provider
of services for people with AIDS, said it has ap
pointed as its new executive director the head of a
Bay area rape crisis center.
Gloria J. Sandoval, executive director of the
Rape Crisis Center in Sah Pablo, Calif., for the past
14 years, will become Shanti’s executive director
on Nov. 15.
Sandoval will head a staff of 45 at Shanti,
which has more than 1,000 clients and about
1,000 volunteers. The organization has an annual
budget of $3 million.
Former Shanti Executive Director Eric Rofes
resigned in March, after an audit found that the
organization’s books were in disarray.
Shanti acknowledged that it billed San Fran
cisco for expenses that were not approved under
the terms of its housing contracts and in May
acceded to the city’s request to stop providing
housing for AIDS sufferers. The city agreed to
oversee the transfer of housing contracts to another
provider.
Shanti has continued with its original mission
of providing practical and emotional support to
people with AIDS. It offers such services as house
cleaning, shopping and transportation. T
Atlanta Gay
Center
Coming Out
Group
Saturdays
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Thb VownteehandHon-Pbofit Voiceof m Gay& Lesbian Community
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