Yves Saint Laurent woos Indonesia's rich
By Agni Amorita
JAKARTA (JP): Yves Saint Laurent is getting younger and younger. Not the couturier, of course, who is 62-years-old and rumored to be sick, or even dying, but his latest collection, which was brought to Jakarta for the first time in a three-day trunk show at Mulia Hotel, Central Jakarta, earlier this month.
YSL Rive Gauche, designed by the house's new artistic director for women's ready-to-wear, Alber Elbaz, emphasizes neutral colors and sophisticated cutting. Elbaz, who is an Israeli-American, goes East with his Kimono sleeves. He also applies a geometric touch -- the favorite style of Japanese designers -- in several of his lean-silhouette creations.
"Elbaz was raised in California, no wonder you can catch a Versace atmosphere, too," said Choong KH, Executive Director of The Glamourette, the Singapore-based agent for YSL in Asia.
Elbaz's influences are evident in the glittering fabric and sequin use in the dress' details. But the total look of an Elbaz creation is still determined by YSL's classic character, by maintaining its simple and elegant style in his A-line dominated collections.
"Which makes it very easy to sell, because the A-line style can be worn by everybody," added Choong KH.
The Cruise 2000 collection from Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche is on a road show around the world and Jakarta was selected as one of the stop offs on its busy route. "Because finally Indonesia is bouncing back after the two-year crisis. I am sure Indonesia will recover from the monetary crisis," said Choong, who invited Jakarta's rich and famous to be his very select trunk show guests. The collection is being displayed six months before it is delivered to major stores worldwide. The outfits will be sent to the trunk show buyers in December 1999.
YSL trunk show guests are mostly the Glamourette boutique's regular costumers who have not felt any impact from the ongoing crisis. They are too rich to be beaten by the krismon (monetary crisis). In fact, YSL collections are considered one of the most expensive lines among Parisian brand items. For example, one cotton sleeveless blouse costs S$1,150. YSL uses famous exclusive material, which is used for different collections from time to time. The difference is that today's collections display a braver cutting style.
Another big difference in YSL's current collection reflects its new owner's attitude. Pinault-Printemps-Redoute SA recently bought the name for US$762 million, proclaiming a new era for the fashion house. France's largest retailer company wants to market YSL as another trendsetter, just like Gucci -- also recently purchased -- but in the famously classical style. Gucci's recent marketing successes was followed by Elbaz's appointment as the director of the ready-to-wear outfits.
The 38-year-old Elbaz, a Tel Aviv School of Fashion graduate, has been in Yves Saint Laurent's shoes since November 1998. Elbaz had earlier worked for Guy Laroche. He started his career at Guy Laroche in March 1977, and was appointed director of design in September 1996.