Adventures in Luxury Cyberspace
Yves Saint Laurent's new ysl.com site goes interactive
Monday, October 01, 2007
(NEW YORK) Yves Saint Laurent is the latest luxury label to go e-commerce.
The Gucci Group-owned label's revamped Web site, ysl.com, goes interactive today, joining its stablemates Gucci and Bottega Veneta by launching an online store for U.S. shoppers and a plethora of animated Web-only content, including the most current news on the brand and creative director Stefano Pilati's creations.
The company's Web site has largely remained unchanged since Tom Ford's helm at YSL, and company executives plan to increase traffic to the site fivefold over the next two years. According to YSL president and chief executive officer Valerie Hermann, the online boutique, which will make men's and women's ready-to-wear and accessories available exclusively in the U.S., should become one of the company's top-five sales generating vehicles within three years. A U.K.-based e-commerce site is also being considered, she added.
"The new ysl.com will provide visitors with an interactive Yves Saint Laurent experience, extending the reach of the brand while maintaining its creative and innovative heritage," the company said in a statement.
The initial homepage allows visitors to choose from either the Fashion & Accessories or Beauty & Fragrances categories. In the former, a full showcase of clothing, bags, and shoes is on display from a bevy of angles to provide a more accurate view of the products. New York and Los Angeles shoppers can even schedule a fitting. There is also a Company History section, set up to resemble an art gallery, where detailed backgrounds on Saint Laurent and Pilati are available, along with information on the house's iconic products, including the tuxedos.
Following the debut of the YSL Manifesto this September in the streets of New York, Paris, London and Milan, ysl.com visitors will have access to an animated version of the Manifesto featuring a making of the current fall campaign starring Gisele Bündchen. Other exclusive features will include a series of short films by photographer Nick Knight starring model Jessica Miller wearing the Edition 24 collection, the more affordably priced capsule collection, streamed live on the internet this past July.
YSL had about 100,000 registered users for its previous site, and nearly 40,000 more signed up to be informed about the new one.
