PARIS — Yves Saint Laurent is back at Colette.
The Paris concept store on Monday unveiled two window displays devoted to the French fashion house, signaling a reconciliation: Saint Laurent had severed ties with the retailer in 2013 after former creative director Hedi Slimane objected to Colette carrying parody T-shirts with the logo “Ain’t Laurent Without Yves.”
Sarah Andelman, Colette’s creative director, purchasing manager and the daughter of store founder Colette Roussaux, said discussions with Saint Laurent resumed after Anthony Vaccarello was named creative director of the brand last year. Colette previously carried Vaccarello’s eponymous line, which he shuttered when he joined Saint Laurent.
“We have worked with Anthony since his first collection. It was obvious that we would be able to work together again,” Andelman told WWD. “As soon as Anthony’s nomination was announced, we met and we started planning the beautiful windows we have right now.”
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Vaccarello unveiled the collaboration on his Instagram account.
The windows will remain on show until March 1, the day after Vaccarello parades his fall collection for Saint Laurent. Andelman noted this was exceptional, since the store usually switches its window displays on Sundays.
The display consists of an assemblage of video screens showing an exclusive edit of a short film directed by Nathalie Canguilhem.
Andelman noted the store had carried the Saint Laurent label virtually since opening in 1997, including collections by Slimane during his first stint designing men’s wear at the fashion house in the Nineties and women’s wear selections from the Tom Ford and Stefano Pilati eras.
Francesca Bellettini, chief executive officer of Yves Saint Laurent, said: “We are happy to be at Colette with such strong support for the launch of Anthony Vaccarello’s first collection for Saint Laurent.
“The incredible appreciation that his summer ’17 collection has had since its presentation and since arriving in our stores has allowed us to strengthen even more of our relationships with key wholesale partners worldwide. It was mutually exciting to work together on this project and to witness its success,” she added.
Andelman bought the spring women’s collection after attending Vaccarello’s debut show for the brand in September. The first deliveries landed several weeks ago.
“We have already sold out of the gorgeous stilettos with the Saint Laurent logo on the heel, as well as the jewelry. We are still waiting for another portion of our order. It’s coming in gradually. We have the jeans and some beautiful leather dresses,” she said. “A lot of the pieces are really easy to sell.”
The retailer said she was pleased the relationship has been restored. “I’m happy for Anthony, because he’s doing a great job, and it’s also good for us to be able to complete our offer,” Andelman said.