YSL Rebrands and Reveals New Saint Laurent Paris Logo
The Creative Director haute seat for Yves Saint Laurent has been filled by Hedi Slimane, and along with that, came the name and logo change by dropping the “Yves” out of the brand name. This business decision was spearheaded by Slimane, who commented that he was actually drawing inspiration from, and paying tribute to the 1966 Ready-To-Wear line, which was launched as Saint Laurent Rive Gauche.
The logo has now morphed from THIS…
Into THIS…
YSL unveiled its new logo and ‘brand name’ to the world with this photo on their Official Facebook Page. A simple black square with the “Saint Laurent” on the top line in larger fonts, and “Paris” in smaller fonts on the line directly below that. The fonts selected were said to be similar to that of the fonts originally used in 1966.
The announcement of the name change back in March had already caused quite a stir in the fashion world, basically splitting fashionistas into 2 camps: For and Against.
When this photo of the new Saint Laurent logo and packaging was revealed on July 22 on Facebook, most of the fans seemed outraged: Geoffrey Small, commented “Why not rename it “Hedi Slimane Laurent.” Or “Hedi Saint Laurent,”…then it could be “HSL.” It’s more honest at least than “SLP.” :-). Happy Birthday Yves (yes! his birthday is today!), we hope you are well… ”
Those who gave positive feedback, were few and far between. Phillipe Galowich said, “The Cassandre logo was unique, but it’s also incredibly baroque and a tad complicated. In a way it ‘locks’ the brand in its expression, in that sense it’s a good choice to take the freedom to allow for new directions and horizons. Good. ”
Although the iconic interlocking YSL signature stamp-like logo will only apply to the Ready-To-Wear collections from Spring/Summer 2013 onwards, it is said that it will remain unaltered on the brand’s handbags, shoes and beauty line. But then again, I really think that it’s just a matter of time before “Saint Laurent Paris” (SLP) will be plastered on everything else from the Maison; the RTW line is nothing but a baby step towards total re-branding.
Now that I’ve given you my two cents, what are your thoughts? How do you feel about this? I’d love to hear from you!
This post is in honour of Yves Saint Laurent, who would be celebrating his 75th birthday today if he hadn’t yet passed on… Do you think he’d be turning in his grave? Or happy that Slimane is reviving the YSL of a bygone era?
