Yves Saint Laurent woos Indonesia's rich

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.