French fashion tycoon and art collector Pierre Berge dies aged 86 in southern France

The French fashion tycoon Pierre Berge, the business brains behind the Yves Saint Laurent empire, a major philanthropist and a leading figure in the fight against AIDS, died on Friday aged 86. Berge, the longtime partner of the late designer Yves Saint Laurent, died in his sleep at his country home at Saint-Remy-de-Provence in southern France, his foundation said. It added that Berge would be cremated on Tuesday in a private ceremony, and a “public commemoration in his honour” would be held at a later date. The couple — Berge the hard-headed foil to Saint Laurent’s mercurial genius — turned the fashion world on its head when they set up their own label in 1961 after the fragile designer had fallen foul of Dior.