THE year was 1983 in Paris and a then 18-year-old Hanis Hussey was set to take that once-in-a-lifetime walk down the aisle.

The top Singaporean model of the time had been chosen to close the Yves Saint Laurent (YSL) fall-winter show dressed in one of the French fashion designer's famous wedding gowns.

Moments before she sashayed down the runway, the designer famous for his reserve grabbed her hand, walked with her for a while and said to her with a big smile: 'You are beautiful.'

'It was just like a father giving away his daughter on her wedding day' - Former model Hanis Hussey (above) on French designer Yves Saint Laurent walking her to the catwalk as she was about to close his show in 1983

'It was just like a father giving away his daughter on her wedding day,' Hussey, 43, recalled to Life! over the phone yesterday.

Saint Laurent, recognised as one of the greatest fashion designers of the 20th century, died at his home in Paris at the age of 71 on Sunday after a long illness. Reports said he suffered from brain tumour.

He had retired from the business in 2002, leaving the fashion world with the words: 'I've always served women and I did it without compromise until the end, with respect and love'.

Hussey said she will always remember his kindness and humility.

She was young, inexperienced and spoke no French when she became one of eight exclusive house models for YSL in the early 1980s.

In everyday speak, a house model is part muse, part glorified mannequin. It is not uncommon for a model to stand for hours while the designer crafts the clothes on her.

Saint Laurent was kind to her and she never once saw him throw a tantrum. He was meticulous in his work and he had such a good eye that he could come up with a sketch just by looking at a person.

'He was a very soft-spoken, down-to-earth man who always had a smile on his face.'

Hussey went to Paris in 1982 as part of her prize for winning the Catwalk Model Of The Year Singapore contest that year. She had clinched the two-year YSL contract in her very first casting there.

She went on to model for other fashion luminaries such as the house of Givenchy and was the first Singaporean model to appear on the cover of Time Magazine Asia in 1997.

She attributes her success to her stint at YSL: 'Once you've modelled for someone like Yves Saint Laurent, you know you have made it.'

'He is not like other designers and would gladly talk to anybody regardless of who you are' - Make-up artist Marjorie Teo, who worked with Saint Laurent in 1997

Another Singaporean who has met Saint Laurent is make-up artist Marjorie Teo, who is in her 40s.

She had won a regional make-up competition organised by the fashion house in 1997 and was rewarded with a chance to work backstage at one of his couture shows that year.

She too remembers the designer as a gentleman who had 'absolutely no airs' about him despite his iconic status.

'He is not like other designers and would gladly talk to anybody regardless of who you are,' she says.

She remembers approaching him at a cafe after a show and to her surprise, he did not display any airs and chatted with her.

His death was a surprise to her.

Despite reports of his ailing health, she remembers him as looking healthy on her visit to Paris.

'I was shocked when told of the news. To die at 71 is very young.'

But Hussey remembers a different Saint Laurent. She says that he had struck her as looking slightly pale and sickly.

She learnt of his death when a friend sent her an SMS early yesterday morning.

The first thing she did when she woke up, she says, was to search for photographs she had taken with the man.

'I just wanted to look at them again and think about him. He was a creator who made it his responsibility to make women look good. It is such a shame that we have lost him.'

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Jun 3, 2008.