Okay so last week my sister was all excited about this fancy bag she wanted. She kept texting me links saying “Check out this YSL bag!” and then the next day it was “Saint Laurent this” and “Saint Laurent that”. I got confused like, wait are these two different brands? That’s when I decided to dig into it myself.
My First Step: Just Looking Around
I literally grabbed my own stuff first. Found an old lipstick at the bottom of my makeup bag – tiny gold letters saying “Yves Saint Laurent”. Then I pulled up my newer wallet bought last year. Bold black-and-white “SAINT LAURENT PARIS” staring back. Weird. Same brand vibe but totally different names right?
Time to Go Hunting
Next day I hit the mall like a detective. Went into the actual Saint Laurent store pretending I knew what I was doing. First thing the sales guy said when I asked about names? “Ah, Monsieur Laurent actually renamed things back in 2012!” Bam. So it’s not two brands. It’s the SAME house, just changed labels overtime.
Checked out clothes racks:
- Newer tees / jackets: Huge “SAINT LAURENT PARIS” usually on front
- Older silk scarves: Tiny “Yves Saint Laurent” tucked in corner
- Perfume bottles: Mostly “Yves Saint Laurent” even now
The Lightbulb Moment
Standing there holding a new leather jacket vs. an old clutch it hit me: the logo swap basically screams vintage vs. modern. Like finding old Levis with that tiny “e” versus new ones with big bold letters. But nah, unlike Levis they don’t sell both names at same time.
Quick test I made up:
- Spot “Yves”? You got pre-2012 stuff or cosmetics.
- See just “SAINT LAURENT PARIS”? Post-rebrand item.
Simple right? Felt kinda dumb for stressing about it earlier. Though honestly I like the drama of “Yves Saint Laurent” rolling off the tongue better – sounds fancier when I wanna flex.
