Pierre Bergé
| Pierre Bergé | |
|---|---|
.jpg) |
|
| Born |
14 November 1930 Oléron, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Occupation | Businessperson |
| Partner(s) | Yves Saint Laurent |
Pierre Bergé (French pronunciation: [pjɛːʁ bɛʁʒe]) (born 14 November 1930) is a French industrialist and patron. He is the co-founder of Yves Saint Laurent Couture House and onetime life partner and longtime business partner of the late fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent.
Bergé was born in Oléron (Charente-Maritime) on 14 November 1930. His mother Christiane was an amateur soprano and a progressive teacher, who used the Montessori method. His father worked for the tax office and was a great rugby enthusiast. Bergé attended the Lycée Eugène Fromentin in La Rochelle, and, later, went to Paris. On the day of his arrival, as he was walking on the Champs-Élysées, French poet Jacques Prévert landed on him following a fall from his apartment window. During these early years in Paris, Bergé befriended the young French artist Bernard Buffet and was a great help in facilitating Buffet's success.
Bergé met Yves Saint Laurent in 1958. They became romantically involved and together launched Yves Saint Laurent Couture House in 1961. The couple split amicably in 1976 and remained lifelong friends and business partners. Bergé acted as CEO of Yves Saint Laurent Haute Couture until it closed in 2002. Highly protective of and invested in the reputation and legacy of Saint Laurent Couture, Bergé was known as the "Dean of Yves Saint Laurent". According to The New York Times, a few days before Saint Laurent died in 2008, he and Bergé were joined in a same-sex civil union known as a Pacte civil de solidarité (PACS) in France. When Saint Laurent was diagnosed with brain cancer, Bergé and the doctor mutually decided that it would be better for him not to know his impending death. Bergé said, "I have the belief that Yves would not have been strong enough to accept that."
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