(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-06-11 08:59

A view of the Majorelle botanical garden, where the remains of French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent will rest, in Marrakesh June 7, 2008. Saint Laurent's body is to be cremated and the ashes spread in the garden of his villa in the Moroccan city. The oldest child of a rich French industrialist, Saint Laurent was born and grew up in Algeria, then a French colony, and showed an early talent for design, making clothes for his younger sisters' dolls. Saint Laurent died June 1, 2008 at the age of 71.[Agencies]

The ashes of the iconic French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent will be scattered by friends in the garden of his Marrakesh villa on Wednesday, it was announced Tuesday.

A second ceremony will follow in the adjoining Majorelle botanical garden that Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Berge acquired in 1980, said Quito Fierro, secretary general of the Marjorelle Garden Association.

Both events will be private, he said, with the gardens -- a popular Marrakesh tourist attraction -- being closed from 11 a.m. through 3 p.m (1000 through 1400 GMT).

Berge, the designer's lifelong professional and personal companion, is expected to speak to the press after 4 p.m.

Saint Laurent, who reshaped fashion in a career that spanned four decades, died June 1 of a brain tumour at the age of 71, with his funeral in Paris last Thursday attracting the elite of the fashion world.

Algeria-born "YSL" spent much time in Morocco, and Berge said at his funeral: "He will stay there in a country that influenced and marked him greatly. He will end up in the Maghreb where he was born."