The Shophound

SNEAK PEEK: Peering Inside Saint Laurent's Greene Street Store

Don't we love it when careless construction crews leave the door open?
Over the weekend, The Shophound got an impromptu look inside the upcoming Saint Laurent boutique on Greene Street in SoHo —just by chance. It was only last week that the company actually confirmed the location by papering the windows with the terse message, "Opening, Saint Laurent, Greene Street" with no specific date, but a photo of the white marble that is becoming a signature of the new Hedi Slimane-designed boutique concept. From what we could see inside through the open doorway, it looks like the store could easily make the May opening that was suggested recently. White marble shelves are already in place, which means that they are in the fixturing stage, so furniture and stock can't be far behind. The signage is even on the front doors already.

Presumably, once this store opens, the main Saint Laurent boutique on 57th Street will close for its own revamping so the city's outlets for the label will be consistent. If you can't wait for an in-person look at the concept, Bergdorf Goodman's in-store Saint Laurent boutiques in both the men's and women's stores are finished and open, so you can go appraise the white marble, black leather and chrome for yourself.

Previously:
Continuing Saga: SoHo's Saint Laurent To Open In May?

CONTINUING SAGA: SoHo's Saint Laurent To Open In May?

Also in today's New York Times is an appraisal by Eric Wilson of Hedi Slimane's first year as Creative Director of Yves Saint Laurent which casually drops the morsel of information that the Saint Laurent boutique originally meant to open many months ago on Mercer Street will be ready to receive customers next month at the 80 Greene Street address that was identified a couple of weeks ago. It is reported to be part of a duo of openings that also includes a restyled flagship on the Avenue Montaigne in Paris featuring Slimane's updated retail concept for the brand which will also be seen in the Saint Laurent boutiques currently under construction in Bergdorf Goodman's Men's and Women's stores.

The Shophound has been following the tortured progress of this long-in-gestation boutique for a while now, and this answers our final question, which was: When will it open? While May' markdowns make it a slightly odd time to open a designer boutique —March and September are optimal months— theoretically, it should be in time to debut the label's pre-Fall collection. As for the new Saint Laurent branded merchandise for this season, Wilson reports that deliveries have been slow and skimpy, but what has come in has sold well despite the prickly critical responses to Slimane's first two runway shows. With a lavish new showcase in what once was designer Helmut Lang's ultimately ill-fated shrine to his somewhat similar style of sleek, severe fashion, the pressure will mount for the designer to bring things up to speed. As usual, we'll be watching.

Mr. Provocative By Eric Wilson (NYTimes)
Previously:
Coming Soon... Sort Of: Saint Laurent's SoHo Saga Continues

COMING SOON...SORT OF: Saint Laurent's SoHo Saga Continues

Few upcoming boutiques have perplexed us as much as the upcoming Saint Laurent store on Mercer Street in SoHo.
Originally planned a couple of years ago, it was reasonably postponed when Hedi Slimane was appointed as Creative Director for the brand last year —most likely so the detail oriented designer could create his own, new interior concept for the brand. Later in the summer, the plywood covering on the construction site was used to subtly introduce Slimane's somewhat controversial new logo for the Prêt-à-Porter lines, and then, recently, we realized that all identifying logos had been removed from the space completely. What was happening with this place?

Today, our friends at Racked have discovered through some clever sleuthing that Saint Laurent has inded abandoned the Mercer Street site which would have been a stone's throw from Marc Jacobs, Vera Wang, Marni, Versace, Prada and Balenciaga for a different location at 80 Greene Street just below Spring Street and across the road from racy, luxury lingerie shop Kiki de Montparnasse. Why the move from a perfectly nice space that the company had been on control of (and presumably paying rent on) for about two years? Who knows? Slimane is known to be exceptionally persnickety even for a fashion designer, so perhaps he just didn't want to put a high profile shop in a location that he hadn't chosen himself, or maybe there were other, totally unrelated problems. Maybe it was clustered too close to other luxury designer shops. Possibly parent company PPR Kering has some other plans for the Mercer Street location. We have seen stores take more convoluted routes to finally opening... but not many. We'll be on the lookout for confirming signage.

Breaking: Saint Laurent Is Opening on Greene Street (Racked)
Previously:
So, Is SoHo's Saint Laurent Boutique Ever Opening Or What?

TICK TOCK: So, Is SoHo's Saint Laurent Boutique Ever Opening Or What?

This week marked Saint Laurent creative director Hedi Slimane's second women's runway show for the label (also known as his second women's runway show for anything, ever) and, as if by magic, managed to monopolize the press with a debates on the merits or lack thereof of his strangely grunge-inspired display. The reception was not warm. Though he had a few supporters, most critics were dismayed that he would go down such a well-worn road while retailers were wondering exactly they could edit from the collection to keep their stores from looking like an overpriced corner of Urban Outfitters. He'll probably be banning a lot more critics than just The Times' Cathy Horyn next season, but all the fuss made us wonder what the hell is going on with the supposedly upcoming Saint Laurent boutique on Mercer Street in SoHo (pictured above) that has been in the works for around two years by now?

Originally, it was slated to open last Spring, but that was when Stefano Pilati was running things at YSL. Then Slimane replaced him as creative director and was reported to be tasked with revamping nearly every aspect of the brand including store design, so it seemed logical that the shop would be pushed back until a new Slimane-approved concept could be developed. We guessed that would have coincided with the launch of the designer's new collections this season. By July, the store's plywood was quietly repainted to reveal the label's redesigned logo to much debate and hand-wringing. By September, a new retail concept was unveiled at a Saint Laurent boutique opening in Shanghai, and we assumed it would next be rolled out to the SoHo store. In fact, we thought the shop was perfectly poised to make its debut with the new collections a month ago during New York Fashion Week, but no such event happened, We passed by the store's site yesterday, and though we couldn't tell if there had been progress on the store's interior, the black painted plywood was now clear of any logos at all. In the meantime, that particular block of Mercer street has only gotten more more exclusive with a new Versace boutique opening last Fall, and an upcoming Balenciaga flagship on the way.

Is this Saint Laurent store ever going to open?

Like many observers, The Shophound has been intrigued but underwhelmed by many of Slimane's creative choices (really? Grunge? In 2013?), but we know that he always has a pervasive, soup-to-nuts vision for his brands. We have been looking forward to seeing what his new store concept looks like in person, especially since when the designer first attracted notice for his work at what was then called the Rive Gauche men's collection, it was shown off in a SoHo YSL boutique not far from where the new one is expected to be unveiled. Perhaps they are having construction issues, or maybe the increasingly persnickety designer doesn't want to open a shop in a space that he did not personally choose? At any rate, we may not have to wait until the SoHo Saint Laurent opens to get a taste of the new store concept. A couple of weeks ago we visited Bergdorf Goodman's recently renovated men's Designer Floor, and noticed that the Saint Laurent space, which had just been unveiled barely six months ago, was under wraps again, presumably to bring the shop-in-shop up to speed with the revamped collection's new sensibility. The Saint Laurent flagship on 57th Street has yet to be fully renovated beyond a new sign, and still reflects the Pilati/Tom Ford era aesthetic, so it may be at Bergdorf's that New York gets its first glimpse of Saint Laurent's latest retail environment.

Previously: Upcoming Rebranding: How's That Yves Saint Laurent Store Coming Along In SoHo? (6/21/2012)
Sneak Previews: Here's A Blink-And-You'll-Miss-It Glimpse Of The New Saint Laurent Logo (7/18/2012)

 

DRAWN OUT DEBUTS: Hedi Slimane's Saint Laurent Hits The Sales Floors

If the proof is in the pudding, then the pudding is being served.
There was no Critical Shopper column in yesterday's Thursday Styles, but Eric Wilson made his way around town looking for the first deliveries of Hedi Slimane's newly re-conceived Saint Laurent prêt-à-porter collection for the Times' On the Runway blog. What did he find? a $1000 men's hoodie and a smattering of hyper-expensive women's clothes at Barneys, but the best representation is naturally at the newly redubbed Saint Laurent boutique on East 57th Street which, in a symbolic, but somewhat belated update, finally shed the long defunct "Rive Gauche" logo from its storefront in favor of Slimane's new logo. There, shoppers will be offered an array of new bags with discreet embossed logos and some women's accessories. Wilson had little to say about any of the women's pre-collection that may have been delivered. The much commented upon runway collection will arrive in mid-March, which is ridiculously late by modern designer retail standards. In fact, pre-collections should have been arriving in November, but we are pretty certain that Slimane did not want his line to mingle with predecessor Stefano Pliati's final YSL efforts in any way, and he is hoping that customers will be eager to get their hands on his new line no matter when it arrives in stores. That may be something of an ambitious hope even for such a celebrated but relatively untested women's designer. Women, and men, will buy when they feel like buying, and if your line isn't ready in time, it's your loss. Ask any designer who has suffered through a late delivering season. Anyway, for women there are new shoes and a few signature "Smoking" looks, and for men, more new apparel that recalls the designer's previous stint at Dior Homme. Wilson notes that with the Dior Homme boutique only a few doors away, the similarities don't necessarily reflect well on Slimane, but he may have evolved his aesthetic just a bit, "...a classic navy suit for men ($2,195), beautifully made, was not tailored quite as aggressively as it might once have been at Dior," he writes. Perhaps, then, there's hope for his menswear fans who don't want to have to skip dinner to fit into the new Saint Laurent?

A First Look at Saint Laurent in the Stores By Eric Wilson (On the Runway/NYTimes)
Saint Laurent Paris (Official Site)

CONTINUING SAGA: Here's A Look At Hedi Slimane's New Saint Laurent Retail Concept

We still don't have an ETA for the new Yves Saint Laurent boutique set to open on Mercer Street in SoHo, but, today, WWD has a look at the first store for the brand designed by its new creative director, Hedi Slimane. Opening on Tuesday in Shanghai, China, the store design (at right) will feature black and white marble, raw concrete and 1930s-inspired display furniture with gold, silver, mirror and glass elements in the decor. From the pictures, it looks suitably Slimane-esque. Expect the critics and fans of the designer's still mostly yet to be unveiled brand overhaul to start commenting on Facebook emphatically any second now. YSL president and chief executive officer Paul Deneve told WWD that this store concept has been "completed, designed and perfected, and is ready for rollout". Presumably, the scheme will be replicated in upcoming stores as well as retrofitted into existing YSL doors, so this is basically what we can expect the Mercer Street store to look like eventually, and probably the 57th Street flagship as well. The article mentions a unit in Berlin as the next store to open in November, and a Paris flagship set for February, but no mention is made of the SoHo store that has been under construction for many months, and sports the newly redesigned Saint Laurent ready-to-wear logo on its plywood covering.

Deneve also reveled a few more details about Slimane's 360˚ makeover for the brand, which has been carefully kept under wraps until the Spring 2013 women's runway show on October 1st.

• For starters, because of new production standards, Slimane's first collections will not arrive into stores until after January 1st, so those expecting late October deliveries for the as-yet-unseen resort lines will have to wait a bit longer.

• Though the designer has revamped the shoe and accessory lines, favorite items like the Cabas Chyc bag and Tribute shoes will continue to be produced and updated for each season.

• Price points have been broadened make the line more accessible to younger customers at the opening level (though in French luxury brands, "accessible" is a relative term) while very special items may command higher prices.

Deneve confirmed that the revamp of the brand was intended to push both the business and the status of the label back to the level of the other two great names of Paris fashion, Chanel and Christian Dior. Naturally, when asked about the possibility of the house relaunching a Haute Couture collection like its rivals, Deneve relied cryptically, “It could be a natural step, but no timetable has been defined,” so translating that from Fashionspeak, consider it a confirmation that at some point in the next few years, Yves Saint Laurent will become a full couture house once again. Make of all this what you will, and start counting down the 10 days until we can finally get a look at the clothes Slimane has designed that will be the lynchpin for this whole enterprise.

Hedi Slimane's YSL Concept to Be Unveiled in Shanghai (WWD)

THE CONTINUING SAGA: The Saint Laurent Reveal Continues Facebook Outraged Again

This week, Yves Saint Laurent creative director Hedi Slimane released his first new campaign image (pictured above) for the company since the ready-to-wear collections were renamed Saint Laurent Paris, and it shows no clothes. A spokesperson for the house calls it an "institutional" image, meant to convey a mood or atmosphere. This picture, taken by Slimane himself, features singer Christopher Owens turned away form the camera and reclining shirtless on a velvet cushion. It reminds us in a way of the original "Opium" fragrance ads which featured a rapturous Jerry Hall reclining on a plush chaise. Of course, she was clothed in Saint Laurent couture, but the image was scandalous in its day for the original tagline, "For those who are addicted to Yves Saint Laurent" (after some outrage, 'addicted' was changed to 'adore', but we digress). There are fourteen more such product-free images to follow, and it obviously makes no sense to feature Slimane's product at this point, since none of his efforts will be available until November, when the first pieces of his Resort and Pre-Spring collections should start arriving at retail.
Cue the Hedi-haters: "The emperor has no clothes!"

It seems that every move Slimane makes either delights or incenses the brand's followers, and the YSL Facebook page is deeply divided over the image, currently registering 140 comments expressing either admiration or deep dislike. The company has done an excellent job of embargoing any images of Slimane's men's and women's Saint Laurent collections that buyers have already seen and ordered until after the Spring 2013 runway show in Paris next month. Until then, we will have to satisfy ourselves with these teases from the source. Make of all of this what you will. We remain strangely fascinated.

Hedi Slimane Shoots First Ad for YSL (WWD)
Yves Saint Laurent (on Facebook)
Previously:
Sneak Previews: Yet Another Look At The Upcoming Saint Laurent Re-Branding

SNEAK PREVIEWS: Yet Another Look At The Upcoming Saint Laurent Re-Branding

Okay, we'll admit that we are sort of obsessed with the upcoming relaunching and rebranding of Yves Saint Laurent's boutiques and prêt-à-porter lines under Hedi Slimane's creative direction. Here is the only official-ish picture we have seen so far of the newly restored/revamped Saint Laurent logo that will appear on the apparel and brand the stores. We are pretty sure that it's from August's Vogue Paris which features an extended interview with Slimane including his own photographs. We discovered the image on Nick Wooster's Tumblr. Since last week, the upcoming Saint Laurent boutique in SoHo has also cleaned up its plywood revealing the new logo again (pictured in a slideshow below). Now you can get a look for yourself should you be on Mercer Street between Prince and Houston Streets.

Anyway, make of it what you will. We think it's a pretty cool combination of the original Helvetica logo and the sleek, sans-serif sensibility that is Slimane's signature mixed with a bit of Copperplate "Paris". We are totally on board with it, but plenty of other bloggers and their legions of commenters seem to be scandalized about such disrespectful changes to the house's apparently sacrosanct trademarks.
Ugh, whatever. The famous monogram is still in place on the store, and the original logo will remain on fragrances and other branded merchandise. You'll still be able to call it YSL in case you are worried about it (not SL or SLP, please) but, better yet, just get used to calling it Saint Laurent. For what it's worth, former Yves Saint Laurent chief and co-founder Pierre Bergé is a huge Slimane fan and is reportedly thrilled with what is in store for the brand —and he has consistently been one of the harshest critics of the great couturier's successors. There's no need to be shocked, SHOCKED about it all. The official brand unveiling will come at the Spring 2013 Collections in Paris this October, which is when the press and public will finally get a look at the Slimane-designed women's Resort and men's Spring collections that have already been shown to buyers. Of course should anything leak out before then, we will be all over it, because, as we mentioned earlier, we're obsessed.

Previously:
Sneak Previews: Here's A Blink-And-You'll-Miss-It Glimpse Of The New Saint Laurent Logo
Winds of Change: Another Look At The Saint Laurent Retro-Rebranding

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SNEAK PREVIEWS: Here's A Blink-And-You'll-Miss-It Glimpse Of The New Saint Laurent Logo

Yesterday, The Cut directed us to a blog called The Fashion Law which had noticed that the plywood outside the upcoming Yves Saint Laurent boutique in SoHo is now sporting the new Hedi Slimane designed "Saint Laurent Paris" brand. Want a closer look? You can't have one. In record time, it seems, the T-shirt company Rocksmith plastered over the logo with their own handbills.
Really, Rocksmith?
There were no other blank surfaces in all of Soho where you could have slapped your flyers? You had to cover up one of the most controversial fashion logo redesigns in recent memory? Really?

While, obviously, they should be shunned and boycotted, The Fashion Law did get this slightly blurry side by side comparison, and the new logo looks very similar to the original "Saint Laurent Rive Gauche" minus the orange and fuschia squares and replacing the "rive gauche" part with a subtle black on black "Paris", just barely visible in the photo. Compare it with the 1968 original, below.

Evocative without slavishly copying. Hopefully, the posters will be removed, and we can all get a better look soon. The famous YSL monogram insignia is still on the plywood as well, so no more fretting that it is being abandoned, okay?

Additionally, WWD is reporting on an email interview that Hedi Slimane has done for the latest issue of Vogue Paris which reportedly includes another view of the new logo as well as some tantalizing comments about other potential developments for the future including this one,

“Haute couture is a legitimate subject for Yves Saint Laurent and could resume one day,” Slimane says, without giving time lines or defining the precise format. “The priority today is to revamp and redeploy the luxury ready-to-wear.”

Well, make of that what you will, anxious YSL watchers. Don't worry. We are pretty sure that if Haute Couture is eventually revived, Slimane will use the original, iconic "Yves Saint Laurent" label, just as like Monsieur Yves did.

YSL Becomes SL in Soho (The Fashion Law)
New YSL Logo Proves Elusive at the Soho Store (The Cut)
Hedi Slimane Opens Up to Vogue Paris (WWD)
Previously:
Winds of Change: Another Look At The Saint Laurent Retro-Rebranding

WINDS of CHANGE: Another Look At The Saint Laurent Retro-Rebranding

A few weeks ago, we heard that new Yves Saint Laurent designer Hedi Slimane has some serious rebranding in the works for his new home label. Since then, fashion bloggers have been all flummoxed about how this might change their world. Slimane will relabel the boutiques and Prêt-à-Porter collections "Saint Laurent Paris" with an approach reminiscent of the original "Saint Laurent Rive Gauche" branding of its 1966 launch. Can we still say YSL? Is it rude to drop the late founding designer's first name from the label? (We don't know. Find a medium and ask Gianni Versace what he thinks about that.)

The Business of Fashion has a detailed overview of the rebranding that should clarify things for those who can't seem to accept the upcoming changes at Saint Laurent. We might suggest they have a few stiff drinks, or perhaps some prescription medication, but that's just us. We promise, it will all turn out OK.

Making Sense of the YSL Retrobranding (The Business of Fashion)
Previously:
Upcoming Rebranding: How's That Yves Saint Laurent Store Coming Along In SoHo?