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