Legendary French designer Yves Saint Laurent has died, the Associated Press reports. The fashion icon, responsible for decking out countless celebrities and royals, began his illustrious affair with the catwalk as the succesor to famed designer Christian Dior in 1958.

“Dior fascinated me. I couldn’t speak in front of him. He taught me the basis of my art. Whatever was to happen next, I never forgot the years spent at his side,” Saint-Laurent once said of Dior.

Yves Henri Donat Mathieu Saint Laurent was born in the coastal town of Oran, Algeria, on August 1, 1936. Described as a shy, lonely child, he was fascinated with clothes, and already had a complete portfolio of sketches when as a seventeen year old he arrived in Paris to study fashion in 1953.

Yves retired from haute couture in 2002. Yves St. Laurent passed away at his home in Paris on Sunday. He was 71.