Yves Saint Laurent’s contribution to fashion’s hall of fame or at least perennial wardrobe staples is not to be underestimated.

His most iconic invention is without doubt the female tuxedo most famously worn by a young Charlotte Rampling with little on underneath. Not only was this a liberating garment, moving away from the restricted silhouettes of the Fifties and Sixties, it was also the last word in emancipated chic.

Without Yves Saint Laurent, who knows if the safari jacket peddled endlessly each summer would have made the transition from the African bush to something a little more luxurious, and which today has even filtered down the style food chain into high street stores.

In fact the Yves Saint Laurent archives are so rich in themes that Tom Ford, when he designed the Ready to Wear collection, could have plucked almost anything from the conical breast suits, Mondrian dresses or the infamous Ballet Russes and still have been perceived as paying homage to the maestro’s legacy.

Yves Saint Laurent gave the fashion world a hitherto unseen sex attitude: a kind of swaggering hedonism that perfectly captured the times. He gave woman elegance and coherence at a time when fashion, like the world, was chaotic.

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