Lady LUX

While eager YSL fans are waiting for the Spring runway show on October 1, Hedi Slimane’s latest project will be revealed in Shanghai on September 25. The Parisian luxury brand will be opening the doors to a 3,200 square-foot boutique in the Reel Department Store on Nanjing Road West. The new store will be the first to display the new floor-to-ceiling store concept created by Slimane, who has been revamping the iconic fashion house.

The Shanghai boutique will boast the new Saint Laurent Paris banner, which Slimane chose to symbolize the principles of youth, freedom and modernity that originally inspired the creation of Saint Laurent Rive Gauche ready-to-wear in 1966. His new concept for the store includes references to the French Art Deco and Union des Artistes Modernes movements with key materials including black and white marble, raw concrete and 1930’s display furniture with gold, silver, mirror and glass.

A second store under Slimane’s direction is slated to open in Berlin in November. The 52 Kurfürstendamm unit will be redesigned and enlarged to an impressive 5,400 square-feet. In February, the brand will also open a 9,600 square-foot, two-level flagship at 53 Avenue Montaigne in Paris.

The retail plans were unveiled in an exclusive interview with YSL president and chief executive officer, Paul Deneve. He explained the new growth strategy was designed to embrace Slimane’s creative vision and catapult YSL to compete with its French Peers Chanel and Christian Dior.

“That level of business is what we want to build. That’s the potential I would like to develop,” Deneve said as reported by WWD.com. “We’re preparing to revolutionize fashion again, as Mr. Saint Laurent did in the Sixties.”

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