Stars attend Yves Saint Laurent's funeral

Claudia Schiffer and Jodie Kidd joins mourners to pay their last respects

Friday, 6 June 2008

Yves Saint Laurent’s life was celebrated at his funeral in Paris.

Hundreds of mourners paid their last respects to the designer, who died of a brain tumour on Sunday at the age of 71.

President Nicolas Sarkozy, 52, his wife Carla Bruni, 40, and designers Jean-Paul Gaultier, 56, Vivienne Westwood, 67, and Karl Lagerfeld attended the emotional ceremony yesterday.

They were joined by actress Catherine Deneuve, and models Claudia Schiffer and Jodie Kidd, 29.

A string quartet played while guests took their seats in the Église St. Roch church, decorated with jasmine and white lilies.

Thousands gathered outside to watch big screens which played moving tributes and images of his fashion collections.

Yves became chief designer at the House of Dior when he was only 21 and founded YSL in 1962. He retired from haute couture in 2002.

His ashes will be scattered at a botanical garden in Marrakesh, Morocco, near a home he owned with long-term partner Pierre Berge.