A Funeral Fit for a Fashion King

Yves Saint Laurent, at age 14, vowed that his name would one day adorn the facades on Champs-Elysées--it would serve as revenge against those who ostracized the fainthearted, bespecled young man.

The "petit prince of haut couture," underestimated his preeminence, of course. Surely, he would have marveled at France's weeklong memorial, after his death on Sunday at age 71, that culminated today with his funeral at Saint-Roch Church in Paris.

Simply put, the funeral--and the scope of the media coverage that preceded it--was befitting of a king.

Virtually every major Parisian daily-from Liberation to Le Monde to L'Express-paid homage to "the greatest couturier of the second half of the 20th century" with multi-paged spreads.

L'Express's online supplement dedicated to Saint Laurent, titled "Yves Saint Laurent Forever," glorifies the designer with commentaries, sketches from the "master," and retrospective slideshows.

"And Yves Saint Laurent Created Woman," read a cover story by Swiss daily Le Temps.

Le Figaro, in addition to extensive coverage of Saint Laurent's lifework, hosted message boards dedicated to the couturier.

In addition, several television outlets, Arte, Paris Première, France 5 and TV5Monde, celebrated the work of the "genius" during the week.

Elle is dedicating a special edition to Saint Laurent. And several new biographies are already in the works.

Today, most of France's major TV outlets covered parts of Saint Laurent's funeral, where some 1,000 people gathered, including president Nicholas Sarkozy, accompanied by his wife, Carla, an emotional Catherine Deneuve and Pierre Bergé, Saint Laurent's longtime companion and businessman.

Several online outlets streamed the event live, as Maria Callas's voice echoed through Saint-Roch in the presence of fashion's biggest names.

Alfonso Serrano F.

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