Pierre Bergé

"Two years after its creation, Christian Lacroix recorded losses of 69 million francs for a turnover of barely 37 million francs! For Arnault, the objective is partly achieved: he has demonstrated that he is capable of founding a company... Drawing a parallel with Saint Laurent, who according to Pierre Bergé, lost money for fourteen years starting in 1962 to trigger a profit avalanche starting in 1976, he declares to the International Herald Tribune: "Lacroix could become profitable very quickly, but it is not our strategy to seek short-term profits.""

"The sale of Saint Laurent to Gucci will prove to be much more complicated than expected. To finalize the deal, François Pinault will have to separate Saint Laurent (ready-to-wear and accessories), sold to Gucci, from Saint Laurent Couture, which will be bought by his personal holding company, Artémis. The prestigious haute couture house will remain under the control of Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Bergé. After paying them 78 million euros to acquire all the rights to the brand, he guarantees them millions of euros in royalties on Saint Laurent perfume sales until... 2016! In addition, François Pinault commits to financing the deficits of the couture house until 2006, which amounts to 36.6 million euros in six payments, until 2006. This is how Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé will have sold their name for the second time: already, in 1993, when Saint Laurent was bought by Sanofi, they had received 300 million francs as compensation for renouncing their status as a limited partnership company. Finally, Pinault will close the door on the famous but expensive fashion house."