French couturier Jean-Louis Scherrer dies

PARIS, France - French couturier Jean-Louis Scherrer has died in Paris at the age of 78, an employee said on Thursday.

Scherrer, who started out working with Christian Dior and later Yves Saint-Laurent, launched his own label in 1962 and his first collection of cocktail dresses was famously held in a wine cellar.

In 1971 he was admitted to the small group of fashion designers entitled to call their work "haute couture".

But after years of success, in 1992 he was sacked by shareholders and his label disappeared in 2008.

Guillaume Feugeas, an employee for 14 years, said Scherrer, who died on Thursday morning, had been in hospital for 10 months.