Yves Saint Laurent said Wednesday that it would “right size” its Madison Avenue flagship in Manhattan, shaving off 7,000 square feet of selling space and converting the unit into a boutique devoted to women’s wear and accessories.
Asprey confirmed that it will take over the space being vacated by YSL. Asprey has been trading out of a temporary location at 50 East 57th Street after shutting its money-losing 20,000-square-foot flagship in Trump Tower in March.
The YSL unit, unveiled with great fanfare in 2001 by the brand’s former creative director, Tom Ford, will close for renovations on Christmas Eve and reopen in April with a new, salon-like configuration, Laura Lendrum, YSL’s U.S. president, said.
“It made sense to really focus on the women’s business,” she said. “We have a great core customer there.”
YSL said its full range of product categories, including men’s wear, would be concentrated in its location at 3 East 57th Street.
YSL already had scaled back retail operations in the New York area in June 2005, when it shut a 2,400-square-foot store at the Americana Manhasset in Manhasset, N.Y.
“We are always looking to see we’re in the right locations and that we have the right amount of space,” Lendrum said.
However, she cited strong business in the U.S. across all categories. “Business is fantastic and we have a really strong, building momentum,” she said.
YSL does not break out sales by region. In the third quarter, overall brand revenues advanced 18.6 percent, with good wholesale momentum from the pre-fall and fall-winter collection, as well as double-digit growth in leather goods, thanks to the success of the Muse and Double bag ranges.