Pierre Berge
Yves Saint Laurent's former partner Pierre Berge has endorsed a new movie about the late fashion designer's life and is "blown away" by Pierre Niney's portrayal of YSL.
Pierre Berge, who was the late French fashion designer's one-time lover and business partner, is "blown away" by the new biographical drama 'Yves Saint Laurent' which stars Pierre Niney as Saint Laurent and Guillaume Gallienne as himself.
The businessman told WWD: "I am blown away by Pierre Niney's performance. It really disconcerted me, it even upset me, because it's very difficult. At times, I thought it was Yves Saint Laurent himself. That's huge."
The 83-year-old fashion mogul was also complimentary of his own portrayer, Guillaume.
He added: "I think he's an extraordinary actor. It's a lot harder [for me to judge his performance objectively], but I will say that I am moved to be featured in a biopic during my lifetime."
Pierre has backed the French film, directed by Jalil Lespert, from the beginning and even loaned authentic designs created by Yves Saint Laurent to the production - however, there were some strict conditions.
He said: "We never loan out clothes, so each one came with a handler. Someone from the foundation was behind each outfit and the models were not allowed to sit down. It was very complicated, but we did it. I lent [Jalil] the clothes on several precise conditions: that we got to pick the models, hair and makeup."
Pierre was in a relationship with Saint Laurent and helped him launch his fashion house in 1961. The couple split in 1976 but remained close and entered civil partnership in 2008 just before Saint Laurent's death.
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