(CNN) -- American fashion designer and film director Tom Ford has revealed he received angry letters from his predecessor and rival Yves Saint-Laurent. Ford, 49, took over Yves Saint-Laurent's eponymous fashion house in 1999 when parts of it were sold to the Gucci group, where Ford was creative director. And the designer says that while the pair started as friends, the relationship soon soured -- to the point that Saint-Laurent, one of the pioneering figures in 20th Century fashion, accused Ford of ruining his reputation. Even in public comments, the Frenchman had made no secret of his disdain for Ford's taste.
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Fashion designer Tom Ford explains how his relationship with Yves Saint-Laurent deteriorated
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One letter accused Ford of destroying the French icon's 40-year career in 13 minutes
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Ford was creative director at Gucci when it bought Yves Saint-Laurent fashion house
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He has since started his own self-named label and moved into film, directing "A Single Man"
@placeholder retired from the fashion industry in 2002, and died in June 2008 of brain cancer at age 71.