"Women today are open about their sexuality. So are the perfumes they wear. I design my fragrance and fashions with this very much in mind. Women, especially working women, are taking more and more power. I believe they expect their perfumes to give them there inner strength and energy." Yves Saint Laurent is never one to negate the sexual lure of scent, however. "Perfume is to capture the man, like the lure for the lion."

Yves Saint Laurent remembered how different women were when he introduced "Y" in 1964. "Women rarely expressed their sexuality in public. They were more practical in their approach. More inhibited in their desires. Now, a woman wants more—a man wants more, too."

"Perhaps," he proposed, "Opium, introduced in 1977, was a turning point: an unabashed sexy fragrance with a provocative name, captured the mystery of the Far East. My collection of Japanese Inros inspired the bottle, which was designed in a material never used for fine fragrance. Everything about Opium was a surprise, a temptation."

Soon we were talking about what inspires him when he is designing fashion or fragrance. "Everything I see, hear or touch inspires me. I haven’t been in New York for eleven years. Now that I am back, I wonder why I stayed away so long. I am excited by the energy of the city. The sexuality I feel in the street by both men and women. When I design my next collection, I will devote myself to capturing New York’s energy. It doesn’t exist anywhere else." Then we discussed how he related his fragrance to his fashions.

"For me, perfume must be adapted to fashion, not the other way around. Fashion leads the way, perfume follows. For both, I am influenced by the seasons, winter/summer, as well as a woman’s many moods.

We asked Yves Saint Laurent if he believed scent can lift the emotions, make a woman or man feel better. "Absolutely." He explained that he always chooses the fragrances he wants his models to wear not only to match their personalities, but to give them energy, change their moods.

We queried Yves Saint Laurent about why he believed the designer has reached such rarified status and influence. "I can only speak for myself. But, I think it is because women know who I am, what I stand for, how I devote myself to bringing beauty, glamour and sexuality to their lives. For me, perfume is indispensable to my philosophy of designing. I want everything I do to make the woman sparkle, inside and out."