Today’s Hedi Slimane update: Yves Saint Laurent is to change its name to Saint Laurent Paris. Announced on Thursday by WWD and confirmed straightaway by the luxury fashion house, the re-branding will come as Hedi Slimane officially takes over creative duties at the YSL (or should that by SLP?) womenswear show in Paris sometime between 25th September and 3rd October 2012. Somewhat paradoxically, the legendary YSL logo won’t be disappearing from the label’s products including its beauty range, which is managed by L’Oréal.

Saint Laurent Rive Gauche, the ready-to-wear label set up by the couturier in 1966 / Photo: Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent

The anticipation surrounding Hedi Slimane’s arrival at the label as Creative Director is such that ‘Saint Laurent Paris’ was trending on Twitter in France on Thursday. Whilst the removal of ‘Yves’ is not with importance on a symbolic level, the name ‘Saint Laurent’ has in fact been used for years: the name change is just that, and shouldn’t be thought of as reflecting any major changes within the company. On the contrary, as WWD pointed out, Yves Saint Laurent’s ready-to-wear line was called ‘Saint Laurent Rive Gauche’ when it was launched in 1966. The word ‘Paris’ merely today replaces ‘Rive Gauche’.

This is the third big announcement to come from the luxury fashion house, based on avenue Georges V in Paris, after its decision not to present anything to the press prior to its women’s ready-to-wear show in September, and the moving of its creative team to Hedi Slimane’s hometown, Los Angeles.