"He was a libertarian, an anarchist and he threw bombs at the legs of society.” -Pierre Bergé,Yves Saint Laurent's former partner

President Sarkozy and his wife were amongst the hundreds attending the funeral

The great and the good of the fashion world gathered in a Paris church to pay their last respects to fashion icon Yves Saint Laurent.

He died of a brain tumour in Paris on Sunday at the age of 71.

Saint Laurent changed the face of fashion with hallmark designs like his women's tuxedo and trouser suits.

He designed clothes that reflected women's changing role in society: more confident personally, sexually and in the workplace.

As well as fashion luminaries such as Jean-Paul Gaultier, Valentino, Hubert de Givenchy, John Galliano, Vivienne Westwood and Sonia Rykiel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his new wife Carla Bruni - herself a former top model - were among the 800 mourners invited to the high-profile funeral.

Hundreds of onlookers were gathered outside the Saint-Roch church in central Paris, following events inside relayed on a giant screen.

YSL Creativity

'I draw on woman, I found my style through women,' Saint Laurent once said.

'That's where its strength and vitality comes from because I draw on the body of a woman.'

He changed forever what women wear, introducing trouser suits, safari jackets and sweaters, BBC arts correspondent Razia Iqbal says.

Saint Laurent was a great innovator, helping to revitalise haute couture while making ready-to-wear design popular. The editor of British Vogue, Alexandra Shulman, said he had helped democratise fashion:

'Before that people had small salons for rich people.

'Saint Laurent brought it to the people.

'He was young and groovy. Pop stars were hanging out with him and younger generations related to him.'

 Moving tributes

French film star Catherine Deneuve, visibly moved, gave a reading during the service, and was followed by Pierre Berge, the designer's former business and personal partner, who paid a moving tribute to his long-term partner, recounting his first meeting with YSL and his influence on fashion.

Obituary: Yves Saint Laurent

'You could have slid into fashions at times, but instead you remained faithful to your own style, and you were quite right, for that style is now everywhere, perhaps not in fashion, but in the streets of the whole world,' Mr Berge said.

From the world of politics, the widow of Iran's Shah Farah Diba, the wife of former French president, Bernadette Chirac and Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe were there, and high-profile businessmen such Bernard Arnault and Francois Pinault were also present.

Saint Laurent's 95-year-old mother was also present, along with a number of top models, including Claudia Schiffer and Laetitia Casta. Saint Laurent retired from haute couture in 2002 and had been ill for some time. His body will be cremated and his ashes spread in the garden of his villa in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh.