Yves Saint Laurent

Is anyone in charge?

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In a spirit of nostalgia, I thought I would revisit the YSL stand after avoiding it for some years. Last time I did this, I smelled some of the Le Vestiaire niche line and was unimpressed. Le Vestiaire, unsurprisingly, is now sold only in a few places in the UK but the rest of their line, including some classics, is still around. Confusingly, the Saint Laurent fashion brand belongs to the Kering group, which also owns Balenciaga and Gucci, while YSL Beauté was sold to L’Oréal. LVMH would do a far better job with both, not necessarily on the actual fragrances but at least on the look, feel, and elementary logic of the whole affair.

The YSL scent range is an unholy mess. Many of the fragrances are in near-identical bottles with no indication of the name; for example, the Black Opium range comes in five different juice colors with same or similar packaging. Even the sales attendant was having trouble remembering which was which. How a wonderful brand was allowed to fall this low will, I am sure, be a case study in business schools for years to come.

For paid subscribers: reviews of Rive Gauche, M7 Oud Absolu, Myslf, Libre, Y Eau de Parfum Intense for Men.