Rebranding an industry icon…

This is a fascinating case study in the world of fashion (re)branding. Newly-appointed creative director Hedi Slimane announced that YSL would be undergoing both a name change – from Yves Saint Laurent to Saint Laurent Paris and a brand identity redesign. New branding for stores, packaging, website and social media applications followed with a decidedly more modern, clean, predominately black & white aesthetic. A backlash within the fashion community and on social media followed immediately. How could someone move in and quickly dismantle such a powerful symbol of Parisian chic (as powerful as the double C Chanel)? The brand content that they will continue to use is the iconic overlapping YSL logo, which was designed by Cassandre in 1963. The new branding will only apply to ready-to-wear, and the house’s official moniker will remain as Yves Saint Laurent. Perfumes and cosmetics bearing the name will not be altered. Sounds like a test run or rebranding cost control to us, but hats off to Slimane for wanting to move the brand to a new place and insisting on total brand image responsibility. Seems like a bold move for both the designer and corporate PPR powers and potentially a smart evolution vs. complete reimagination of and disregard for the extraordinary legacy of the great YSL. Time (and a few collections) will certainly tell more.