Following up on Post #110, which discussed Hedi Slimane's move to L.A., this post is covering the latest drama going down in the house of Yves Saint Laurent. Today's news: Slimane is changing the name from Yves Saint Laurent to Saint Laurent Paris.
This blogger's views are that this is a poor decision. The house of Yves Saint Laurent has a large amount of history and the YSL logo has long been a part of their products. By taking away the Y and adding a P at the end, a disconnect is created between their branding and their company name. Secondly, Saint Laurent Paris does not have the same ring to it as Yves Saint Laurent. It does not sound nearly as expensive or high quality.
When newspapers and magazines attempt to justify the name change, they compare it to Chanel (which used to be the house of Coco Chanel) or MUGLER, which used to be Thierry Mugler until Nicola Formichetti changed it. However, the addition of "Paris" puts the YSL name change in a different category.
This is an especially key word choice in light of the fact that Slimane just moved to L.A. Maybe he's trying to show that the Saint Laurent brand will still be following its Parisian roots. Maybe he's trying to prove to his company that a move to L.A. does not mean that he plans to separate the brand from Paris. Or maybe it means that unless he moves back soon, Saint Laurent will be getting a new creative director.
All I know is that I can't wait to see how this story unfolds...
No comments:
Post a Comment