There was a huge backlash in the industry when the rebranding was announced to the press. At first people were very critical of Slimane's decision to change the name of such a legendary fashion house. It was called disgraceful, and many people still refuse to refer to the house as Saint Laurent Paris. Yves Saint Laurent himself founded the brand in 1962 with his partner, Pierre Bergé. Yves Saint Laurent essentially pioneered the concept of ready-to-wear collections: show bi-annual ready-to-wear collections in addition to haute couture to capture the imagination of consumers, then mass produce pieces from the runway and sell them at comparatively affordable prices. He is with out doubt one of the most innovative designers who ever lived. Slimane had alot to live up to when he was appointed creative director. Unfortunately Yves Saint Laurent passed away in 2008. However his partner Pierre Bergé is reportedly okay with the name alteration. The rebranding was actually inspired by a collection launched by YSL in 1966, entitled Saint Laurent Rive Gauche. The 1996 logo and the current SLP logo are as follows.
Hedi Slimane is one of my favourite designers. He is famous for his skinny Dior Homme suites, which changed the whole tailoring market about 10 years ago. His aesthetic is largely inspired by music. Hedi Slimane is also a professional photographer. He has an amazing online diary of his photography work, and has collaborated with some of the most exciting fashion magazines in the industry. His aesthetic is unique and rebellious in a way that is very relevant to todays youth culture. He has taken classic pieces, such as a leather biker jacket, and applied his aesthetic to them. Hedi Slimane's vision for Saint Laurent Paris has been very successful in winning over the loyalty of customers since the rebranding. I think as a creative mind he was the perfect choice for Saint Laurent Paris. Although, many people in the industry would disagree. He has been criticized for producing luxury collections inspired by "teen grunge" and "punk rock". He has also been criticized for his reoccurring skinny silhouette, as some people feel it might encourage youth to become dangerously skinny to obtain the look. Despite peoples negative opinions, Saint Laurent Paris is selling extremely well. In fact, this seasons $7275 Saint Laurent leather biker pants have sold out in 3 sizes on Canadian website SSENSE.
Another sign of prosperity for Saint Laurent Paris was when the brand cancelled an order of their fall/winter 2013 collection from French department store Colette. The reason Saint Laurent Paris cancelled the order (which could have amounted to over a million euros in retail sales) was because Colette had stocked the following shirt after the SLP rebranding.
Unfortunately for Colette, stocking the above shirt ended a 15 year relationship with the brand formerly known as Yves Saint Laurent.
-SFH
I actually think that I've heard of Hedi before. With your knowledge of the fashion industry do you think that this change is going to improve the sales or no? Personally, I like tradition so I would see a change like this as a bad thing but I can see where he got the inspiration to change it so I would agree with you that the change can probably grow on people
ReplyDeleteI think that the change Hedi is brought to the house will continue to improve sales. Not necessarily the name change, but Hedi's over all vision for the brand. His creative direction and design style is so covetable. Sales are currently doing very well and it's only been a year since he released his first collection.
DeleteI think that especially in an ever-changing and modernizing market - like fashion - that it is important to adapt and change. Like you said, the new design was more popular with customers, if not "professionals" and in a retail industry shouldn't that be all that matters? Also, you touched on how they are concerned the skinny silhouette would encourage things like anorexia etc. but dont a lot of fashion models do that on their own already? I don't see how one designer would have that large of an impact when the entire industry is doing the exact same thing.
ReplyDeleteYeah, first and foremost it's important that there is a customer base. However critics, buyers, editors etc. can have a huge influence on customers. So it's important to please them as well.
DeleteI don't agree with that criticism either. It isn't fair because he's not the only designer casting skinny models. But Saint Laurent is criticized for casting models that are especially skinny. Like skinnier than the models most other large brands are casting. However it should be noted that some of the models used in the Saint Laurent shows aren't models at all. Many of them musicians, artists, or friends of Hedi.