Yves Saint Laurent auction fetches $18m

A four-day auction of late French designer Yves Saint Laurent's ravishing artwork and the everyday objects that packed his residences has fetched €8.99 million ($NZ18.74 million), Christie's auction house said on Friday.

The nearly 1200 lots included the ravishing bric-a-brac that covered almost every surface of his homes, from fancy boxes to ivory statuettes. It also included practical objects like rugs, lamps and beds.

The biggest bidders were from Asia, Christie's said.

The sale is the follow-up to the blockbuster auction in February of Saint Laurent and partner Pierre Berge's extensive art collection. That auction fetched €342 million.

The proceeds from Friday's auction will go to Aids and other medical research.

Saint Laurent's mythic "smoking,'' or women's tuxedo, helped turn his into a household name in fashion. He died in 2008 at the age of 71.

- AP