Pierre Bergé: the man who embodied the times

A look at the news - Loris S. Musumeci

A piece of France disappears. And the tributes are flying for this all-round man, who shaped his time through powers as numerous as they were diverse. Pierre Bergé was a think-tank for the elites, a promoter of societal progressivism and unbridled capitalism, as well as a press owner, art collector and scholar. An ace of this flamboyant, leftist and luxurious Paris, whose map is no more.

Youth in revolution

Only son of anarchist parents, born in 1930. A stubborn young man, he was quick to assert himself. Without finishing high school, he left the family home in Oléron to move to Paris. His dream was to become a journalist, or at least a writer, and to join the high. He is an out-and-proud homosexual with a passionate love of the arts and literature.

He was just eighteen, but already twenty years ahead of May '68. A revolution that Pierre Bergé had already experienced at the end of the Second World War. In the capital, he led a dandy's life that would still be the stuff of dreams for freedom-loving young people today. Now a bookshop broker, his life and body merge with those of the talented painter Bernard Buffet.

Yves Saint Laurent

Of the artistic couple, it was the meeting with the heir to the late Christian Dior that gave euphoric Paris its emblematic couple. 1958, Pierre Bergé and Yves Saint Laurent; two complementary men, for life. While the former is a brilliant businessman, the latter is more introverted and shy. «We're going to found our house together. I'll design the collections, and you'll run it!»

It's not just colors and fabrics they want to change, but also mores and society. Yves broke away from the classic style carried by Dior, to ignite the clothes of a new freedom. Fashion becomes the weapon of women's emancipation.

And Bergé the businessman's calculations didn't stop there. As haute couture began to suffer, he realized the need for ready-to-wear. In a chic district of Paris, he opened the first boutique of the fashion house. A good idea to give a taste for luxury to a wide range of ladies. In so doing, he became one of the key architects of the industrial fashion empire.

Caviar left

At the same time, economic maneuvers are not without their political friends. Pierre Bergé admires and supports François Mitterrand. It was a small world of arrangements and prestige that took shape. Mitterrand covers Yves Saint Laurent's couture with glory to give his friends a good promotion. In exchange, Bergé boosted his presidential campaign for a second seven-year term. Not to mention the President's shared love of literature. All the elements were brought together to give birth to the nec plus ultra of the famous caviar left.

These social events are accompanied by orgies and parties. The couple spends their evenings at Le Sept, a hot, posh club. Alcohol flows freely. There's no shortage of drugs. Pierre is stronger and knows how to preserve himself. Yves, weak, succumbs. The pleasures of the flesh and senses lose him. But his companion stays the course. For the sake of his business, his reputation, his money and probably a little love.

In the image of modern couples, dependence has become such that Yves Saint Laurent declared: «Without you, I might not be who I am. Without me, I don't hope it but I think it, you wouldn't be what you are. This great double-headed eagle, circling the seas, transcending borders, invading the world with its unparalleled wingspan, that's us.»

Activism

Last but not least, this man of fortune's activism cannot be forgotten. In 2009, he sold a large part of his art collection to raise funds for the fight against AIDS. He later became involved in the creation of gay marriage under Hollande, as well as GPA and PMA. Pierre Bergé did not bring about these societal upheavals without violence and cruelty. At least he remained faithful and coherent to his project, as everyone recognizes.

This commitment has also benefited from a microphone since 2010, when the haute couture magnate bought the newspaper group Le Monde. He has thus endowed one of France's biggest newspapers with his visions for change. A stroke of strategic finesse, to be sure.

Pierre Bergé embodied the times. His thinking, his desires and his philosophy are still deeply rooted in today's society. With a touch of tenderness, a lot of excess, a certain ambition and insatiable whims.

Write to the author: loris.musumeci@leregardlibre.com

Photo credit: © vogue.it