Hedi Slimane

Hedi Slimane says that restarting the couture collection at Saint Laurent Paris — which hasn't been shown since the house's founder Yves Saint Laurent retired in 2002 — is within the realm of possibility.

"Haute couture is a legitimate subject for Yves Saint Laurent and could resume one day," Slimane said in an interview for the August issue of Vogue Paris. "The priority today is to revamp and redeploy the luxury ready-to-wear."

Slimane, who had never designed women's clothing before he created the Resort 2013 collection for Saint Laurent Paris, says he'll accomplish this redeployment through his vision of the Saint Laurent woman. "I approach this via a wardrobe codified to the extreme, almost ritualistic," he said.

Yves Saint Laurent — or Saint Laurent Paris, rather — has been presenting Hedi Slimane's Resort 2013 collection to buyers since late June, and so far, the people who have seen the garments called them "very tailored and sharp." The collection is also said to be said to be "significantly more expensive than Stefano Pilati's era."

So, what's offered? There are reportedly "lots of silky, girly tops" as well as plenty of pinstripes, skinny jeans, hot pants, tuxedos, and cigarette pants. Colors range from black, white, and gray to red and fuschia, with sequins and animal prints, as well. Initial feedback to the collection was said to be "resoundingly positive."

Nevertheless, the house is definitely keeping Slimane's first two collections under wraps. In May, the house decided not to show women's Resort 2013 and men's Spring 2013 to the press so that the designer would be free to make his first big fashion statement for the house with his women's Spring 2013 collection during Paris Fashion Week. Buyers were also not allowed to take pictures during the Resort presentation, and the house didn't provide anyone with lookbooks.

On Thursday, WWD released some artistic renderings of the collection, but YSL was quick to point out that the drawings, which were penned by noted fashion illustrator Steven Stipelman, are not official representations of the collection.

"The sketches released in WWD dated July 4, 2012, do not represent YSL Cruise '13 Collection and obviously were not designed by Hedi Slimane," the brand tweeted . WWD has since removed the illustrations.

Find a look at Steven Stipelman's Saint Laurent Paris Resort 2013 illustrations, here.

— Additional reporting by Christina Pérez

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Pierre Bergé, cofounder of Yves Saint Laurent, said he supports Hedi Slimane changing the name of the brand to Saint Laurent Paris.

The move, which the house announced yesterday, is designed to bring the house back to its roots as a pioneer of ready-to-wear, and that makes Bergé "very happy."

"Anything that makes the house more Saint Laurent is welcome," he said. "I am happy that Stefano Pilati is gone, just as I was happy when Tom Ford left."

Slimane will preserve the house's iconic YSL logo for institutional purposes but will employ the graphic elements and fonts Saint Laurent used when he launched his ready-to-wear line Saint Laurent Rive Gauche in 1966. Slimane will also design his collections in Los Angeles instead of in Paris — and Bergé doesn't have a problem with that either.

"The creative studio is in a designer's head, it resides within the person," he said. "Hedi lives in Los Angeles. He should be left to do fashion in a city he likes."

Photo: Pierre Bergé attends the investiture of French President Francois Hollande.

Hedi Slimane's first big move as creative director of Yves Saint Laurent will be to change the brand's name to Saint Laurent Paris.

The switch was confirmed Thursday after rumors circulated Wednesday. Saint Laurent CEO Paul Deneve explained the change to his staff in an internal memo:

"I am very pleased to announce an exciting step in the history of our brand and our business. As part of our strategy to become one of the world's true leaders in fashion and luxury, we are transforming the name of our brand from 'Yves Saint Laurent' to 'Saint Laurent Paris.' The new name of our brand has been shared with the media today. The brand identity and visual language will be introduced over the next several months and will be fully in place for the Spring/Summer 2013 collection. This change celebrates our legacy and heritage, while boldly marking our ambition for the future. It will allow us to return to the fundamentals of YSL and revive the spirit and the intentions that reigned over the creation of 'Saint Laurent Rive Gauche' in 1966: principles of youth, freedom, and modernity."

While the name of the brand will change, the house's iconic YSL logo — a French cultural icon — will not disappear. However, Slimane also plans to reintroduce the original fonts that were used when the Rive Gauche line launched in 1966. (At right, an ad announcing the opening of the store.)

Slimane, who took over the creative director's chair from Stefano Pilati in March, will present his first two collections for the house — men's Spring 2013 and women's Resort 2013 — to buyers only. He intends to make his first big statement to the press with his Spring 2013 collection during Paris Fashion Week later this year. When he assumed control, Slimane was given "total creative responsibility for the brand image and all its collections."

Photo: The finale of Yves Saint Laurent's Fall 2012 show.

Unlike most creative directors at French fashion houses, Yves Saint Laurent's Hedi Slimane won't work in Paris. Instead, he'll design YSL from his current home base, Los Angeles.

YSL will keep its atelier and offices on Avenue George V in Paris open, and Slimane will do fittings for shows there. But the bulk of the creative work will be done in LA, where Slimane has lived since he left Dior Homme in 2007.

Slimane, who took over for former YSL creative director Stefano Pilati in March, isn't the only designer who lives and works in two different places. Phoebe Philo designs the French label Céline from London, and Pucci's Peter Dundas commutes from his apartment in Paris to his office in Florence, Italy, several times a week.

Only buyers are invited to see Hedi Slimane's first two collections for Yves Saint Laurent, meaning virtually no one — including press — will see his women's Resort 2013 and men's Spring 2013 clothing before they go on sale.

A spokeswoman for YSL confirmed the press blackout to WWD on Tuesday, explaining that Slimane wants to make his first major fashion statement for the house when he presents his women's Spring 2013 collection on the runway during Paris Fashion Week. The "transitional" Resort and men's Spring collections will be shown to buyers in late June or early July.

Slimane succeeded Stefano Pilati as creative director of Yves Saint Laurent in March. He had been the head menswear designer at Dior, but left in 2007 to pursue a career in photography. His new position at YSL marks a return to the house where his career started: After graduating from the Ecole du Louvre, Slimane was hired as a marketing assistant for YSL in 1997, then rose through the ranks before becoming designer of YSL Rive Gauche Homme.

Yves Saint Laurent at his final couture show in 2002.

>> Pierre Bergé, who lived with Yves Saint Laurent for almost 50 years, says new YSL designer Hedi Slimane is in for an uphill battle — but Bergé believes Slimane is ready for the task.

Bergé told T Magazine that filling Saint Laurent's shoes is "a great problem, very complicated, to recreate the work of a genius. Like trying to rewrite Faulkner," Bergé said. "To put your stamp on the name of Yves Saint Laurent requires someone who has talent, conviction, rigor, a demanding nature and a great sense of color."

And Slimane, who was announced as the successor to former YSL creative director Stefano Pilati earlier this month, has that — or at least Bergé thinks he does. He called Bergé "a man of talent who can preserve the genius and legacy of Yves Saint Laurent."

Bergé is currently in Denver, CO, exhibiting some 200 of Saint Laurent's finest pieces at the Denver Art Museum. The retrospective will only show in Denver and will run through July 8.

>> Hedi Slimane's new job as creative director of Yves Saint Laurent was just announced two weeks ago, and he's wasting no time in assembling his new staff.

>Vogue UK reports that Slimane has hired Laurence Kleinknecht as YSL's worldwide press director. Kleinknecht has managed her public relations company for the last 16 years and served as head of PR for Dior Homme when Slimane was its head designer. She also represented him when he left Dior Homme to focus on photography.

Kleinknecht's website says she currently represents DJ Chloe Thevenin and handbag designer Delphine Delafon.