French designer Saint Laurent is dead: radio

PARIS (Reuters) - French fashion king Yves Saint Laurent died on Sunday, a close associate told France Info Radio.

Born in 1936 in Oran in Algeria, Saint Laurent had lived in seclusion in the past few years and had been in poor health.

The bespectacled Saint Laurent, whose couture creations secured fine art status across the world, ruled the French fashion world from the age of 21.

He retired in 2002 and was rarely seen in public.