- Born
- 14 November 1930Saint-Pierre-d’Oléron, France
- Died
- 8 September 2017Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France · aged 86
Pierre Bergé
Yves Saint Laurent’s partner in love and business built a fashion empire – and became a major voice in the fight against AIDS.
Pierre Bergé grew up on the Atlantic island of Oléron and moved to Paris at 18, where he worked as a bookseller and became the companion of the painter Bernard Buffet.
In 1958 he met the young fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent. They became a couple, and in 1961 they founded the fashion house Yves Saint Laurent together. Saint Laurent created the collections; Bergé ran the business, which became one of the most famous fashion houses in the world. Their romantic relationship ended in 1976, but they remained partners and close companions until Saint Laurent’s death in 2008.
Bergé was openly gay and a committed left-wing patron. In 1994 he co-founded Sidaction, the French organisation that raises money to fight AIDS, and he campaigned for same-sex marriage, which was introduced in France in 2013. He also owned the newspaper Le Monde and supported François Mitterrand.
After Saint Laurent’s death he founded museums dedicated to his work in Paris and Marrakech. In 2017 he married the landscape designer Madison Cox. He died a few months later in Provence, aged 86.