One aspect of what was special about Yves Saint Laurent was his attitude toward women. Pierre Berger was Saint Laurent’s business partner and lover throughout his adult life. Berger said in a letter "It has often been said that Chanel liberated women. That's true. Years later, Yves Saint Laurent would give them power... He strived socially, much more than others, for equality of the sexes and for the acknowledgment of the modern woman, not just as an object, but as someone who contributes to society and asserts her own confidence."

One of the ways Saint Laurent sought to give women power was in his approach to style.