Cristina Gabriela Drafta

U1501566
Introduction to marketing
FT4100
Retail Audit Saint Laurent
CW2 Retail Essay

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 Executive Summary
Since its founding in 1961, Yves Saint Laurent revolutionised
women’s fashion, introducing ground-breaking concepts into
fashion such as the women’s tuxedo and the safari jacket. With a
steady rise in profits and popularity, Saint Laurent remains one
of the most sought after luxury brands, with a strong identity that
drives in a lot of customers and engages them in a lavish lifestyle.
The Saint Laurent retail network currently consists of 142 di-
rectly-operated boutiques, including its flagship stores in Paris,
London, New York, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Tokyo and Los
Angeles. The network has been expanded by targeted openings
across all regions and the renovation of key stores. (Kering press
release, 2015)

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List of contents

Introduction
Evaluation of the brand
Summary of the financial position
Analysis of its product range
Customer profile
Review of the macro and micro environment
SWOT Analysis
Conclusion and recommendations
Appendix
Bibliography

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Introduction
Yves Saint Laurent is one of the most prom-
inent brands of luxury goods of the last 60
years. Since its founding in 1961, the fashion
house revolutionised modern fashion when
it introduced the first luxury ready-to-wear
collection, River Gauche, in 1966. After a pe-
riod of decline in sells, the brand appointed
Hedi Slimane as a creative director in 2012.
He rebranded the label as Saint Laurent Paris
and ushered a new era that brought back to
the brand the spirit of ‘youth, freedom and
modernity’ that were the core concepts of
the founder in 1966. On 1 April 2013 Sli-
mane was announced to depart from Saint
Laurent, Anthony Vaccarello being appointed
as the new creative director of the brand.
This audit aims to analyse the concept of
Saint Laurent Paris’s current values and
strategies. The outcome is to identify and
develop strategies that will enable the devel-
opment of brand.

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Evaluation of the
brand
One of the most prominent fashion houses of the 20th century, Yves Saint Laurent, found-
ed in 1961, revolutionised modern fashion with the introduction of luxury ready-to-wear
lines under its name, the first one being Rive Gauche. It is a well-established global lux-
ury brand owned by Kering Group. “One of the great fashion names of late 20th century
and a brand with an unparalleled history” (Gucci group, 2010). The brand is known for
its signature chic, fashionable, elegant French identity, but also reliable product quality.
Amongst trends popularised by YSL there are the women’s tuxedo and safari jackets.
In 2012, the house of YSL announced the appointment of Hedi Slimane as a creative
director. He led YSL into a new era that has brought back the spirit of youth, modernity
and freedom that inspired the founder to launch Rive Gauche in 1966. Slimane gained
publicity for the brand by relabelling the ready-to-wear collection as Saint Laurent, under
the new logo ‘Saint Laurent Paris’, bringing in a fresh, contemporary identity. Whilst the
classic range will continue to be sold and the ‘Yves Saint Laurent’ name and logo are to be
retained, the new image clearly targets a modernised, younger age group.
On April 4th 2016, Slimane left YSL, his place being filled in by Anthony Vaccarello, pre-
viously working for Versace. His modern, pure aesthetic and impeccably balance of pro-
vocative feminity and sharp masculinity are said to be a perfect fit for the maison. He will
present his first collection for the brand, Spring/Summer 2017, in October 2016.

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 Summary of the financial
position
As of December 31, 2015, the Saint Laurent retail network is formed by 142
directly operated boutiques that generate 64% of the total revenue, includ-
ing flagship stores in Paris, London, New York and Los Angeles. The house
also has boutiques in department stores all around the world (Kering Fi-
nancial report, 2015). The business is extremely well-balanced in terms of
geographic markets as well as product categories. Leather goods and shoes
accounted for 66%, while ready-to-wear posted a 26% growth compared to
2014.
The financial status has been affected by a mixture of macro environment
issues, market competition and internal factors. In the first quarter of 2015,
Saint Laurent Paris reported a 21% growth in sales on a comparable basis,
with €211.4 revenue compared to only €158 in 2014. The growth has been
largely in North America (39%), Western Europe (29%) and Japan (22%).
In 2016, Saint Laurent keeps its sterling performance with a 27% up on a
comparable basis and as reported, earning €269 in revenue.
The second quarter of 2015 kept a steady growth, 42.5% as reported and
27.3% on a comparable basis, with a €231.7 revenue compared to 2014’s
€162.6
By the third quarter, Saint Laurent kept its strong momentum with sales up
by 36.9% as reported and 26.6% on a comparable basis, the revenue grow-
ing from €177.8 in 2014, to €243.4 in 2015. The brand has done particu-
larly well in Asia-Pacific (27%), Western Europe (40%) and exceeding all
expectations in Japan with a 77% growth in sales.
By the end of the fourth quarter, sales were busted by 37% as reported and
27.4% on a comparable basis. The end of the year recorded robust sales
across all product categories of the brand, with a final revenue of €973.6,
compared to 2014’s €707.3, sustaining a 37.7% growth as reported and
25.8% on a comparable basis.

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Analysis of its product range

Saint Laurent is a part of the luxury, high-end global market. It has a

strong identity, stylish, elegant, and provocative. The design concept
is “to celebrate the beauty of body, of charm, of surrender to romance”
(Kapferer, 2008). They target self-assured, strong minded and fashion
conscious affluent individuals aged between 20 and 40. Their products
vary from menswear to womenswear, ready-to-wear lines, handbags,
shoes, small leather goods, jewellery, scarves, ties and eyewear. Pro-
duction is mainly divided between Italy and France. In France is run
a historic workshop that manufactures ready-to-wear garments. The
beauty division is licensed to L’Oreal Group.
The women ready-to-wear collection is launched each year as Spring/
Summer pre-collection, Spring/Summer collection, Fall/Winter
pre-collection, Fall/Winter collection and Saint Laurent Cruise collec-
tion. With Slimane’s introduction of a very petite and slim silhouette,
the size range had to be scaled up in order to fit into the brand’s new
strategy to reach a wider demographic on a global scale. ”This repo-
sitioning was accompanied by a rejuvenation of the style, in line with
Yves Saint Laurent’ s original message when creating the Saint Laurent
Rive Gauche “Pret-a-Porter” brand in 1966.” (Kering Group, 2015)

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 As most luxury brands, Saint Laurent Paris strategically
introduces limited edition products, evoking a sense of ex-
clusiveness and rarity. In addition to the seasonal collection,
they have ‘The Permanent Collection’, which includes tuxedos,
leather and denim jackets and other classic products. The
prices vary from £195 for a basic cotton shirt, to £7850 for a
goat hair coat, thought the lowest prices come from the beau-
ty rage, with products between £20 and £95. By offering lower
price products, the brand appeals to aspiring customers with
less disposable income, those entry-level purchases being
regarded as one-off investments.

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 Customer profile
They target self-assured, strong minded and fashion conscious affluent individuals
Gender: Female and Male
Age: 20-40
Education: Finished University
Lifestyle: High Income Level. Fashion trendy, early adopter. Has strong career aspirations. Drives expen-
sive, vintage cars. Spends holidays abroad, in cultural-rich cities. Likes all sorts of arts. Listens to classic
and indie rock. Is not afraid to dare and try new things. Goes to a lot of parties. Reads poetry and watches
film noirs.
Also buys: Gucci, The Kooples, Alexander McQueen, Givenchy.

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 Review of the macro and micro
environment
Saint Laurent Paris operates in 142 directly-operated stores all over the world,
as well as retailing through concessions in department stores such as Selfridges,
Harrods, Lafayette or Macy’s. Following the e-commerce trend, their products
can be directly bought from the YSL website, or through luxury online retailers
such as Net-a-Porter or Farfetched.
The rise in acceptance to purchase counterfeit luxury products has increased
significantly in recent years (Penz & Stottinger, 2005). For the luxury market,
the prospect of fake goods rises extreme threats because the counterfeit product
imitates in both quality and appearance the genuine product, thus it provides
the customer with a cheaper alternative.
Saint Laurent’s international marketing is currently thriving, and so Kering
should benefit from the growth potential of Yves Saint Laurent, which has an
above-average retail expansion opportunity in China (BOF, 2016).
Internally, Saint Laurent faces competition from brands such as Gucci, Bottega
Veneta or Alexander McQueen, all parts of Kering Group. Though maintaining
a strong identity, with a youthful and edgy rock’n’roll image, it is vital for Saint
Laurent to keep their desirability in order to keep having a large part of the cor-
porate resources.

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Externally, the main competitor of the Kering Group is LVMH. The French
aesthetic that is found at the core of Saint Laurent can also be found is the
high-fashion concept that Givenchy has to offer, or the sophisticated luxury of
Dior. Balmain, Alexander Wang, Ellie Saab, they are all competitors based on
the same edgy design and ground-breaking, androgynous style and premium
brands such as Louis Vuitton or Prada share price points, distribution chan-
nels and product categories.
Indirect competition can be found in the niche sector, where brands like The
Kooples, Rag and bone or Maje provide the same edgy-chic look at a more
affordable pricing. Due to social, economic and technological breakthroughs,
customer’s behaviour has changed over the last few decades. If luxury con-
sumers used to be considered a small portion of the population, more and
more have turned to consuming a mixture of high-street and luxury fashion
due to a phenomenon known as “trading up and trading down” (Okonkwo,
2013). This phenomenon consists in the collaboration of famous designers or
brands with high-street retailers. H&M is a successful example, having collab-
orated with names like Versace, Marni, Comme de Garcons, Lanvin or Bal-
main, thus, Saint Laurent needs to acknowledge the possibility of high-street
competition. On the other hand, this can provide a newfound appreciation for
luxury designers, tempting the customer into investing in entry-level luxury
merchandise.

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SWOT Analysis
Strengths:
- Significant historical legacy of the brand, strong identity,
strong creative vision, recognition and credibility
- The permanent collection is an everlasting trendy collection,
including classical key concepts that generate revenue yearly
such as ‘Le smoking tuxedo’, an iconic item with marked a
turning point in women’s fashion.
- Successful rebranding results, that brought the brand’s image
and message back to its roots
- They keep their USP of an edgy, sensual, rebellious, yet so-
phisticated rock ‘n ‘roll image that also incorporates a certain
lifestyle.
- Quality products made in historic workshops, particularly
successful in leather goods and ready-to-wear collections.
- Worldwide coverage (142 stores all around the world)
- Financial support provided by one of the most successful
holding companies, Kering Group
- Strong promotional image by engaging celebrities such as
Cara Delegvine (they are now known as the band who brought
her back to modelling) and Harry Styles and Troye Sivan
Opportunities:
-The digital sector offers a lot of opportunities for a brand
nowadays. Engaging the followers and keeping them updated
is a vital process. Creating an app for the brand with exclusive
features is an efficient way to bring in more customers, espe-
cially if linked to the official store.
-A firmer grasp of the e-commerce could provide a growth
in sales, if the brand would explore more languages, payment
types and continue to expand their shipping areas.
-Collaborations with the high-street market to make the brand
more accessible for a wider demographic, making them famil-
iar with the brand’s identity.
-Continue to grow in emerging economical countries like
BRIC or MENA after the stellar success in China.
-Using the young celebrities who are known for wearing the
brand in a campaign to promote and establish their iconic
pieces
-Clear up the brand image and confusion through Anthony
Vaccarello’s work
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Weaknesses:
- The ultra-slim design the brand promotes limits the demo-
graphic target
- The branding situation is unclear. Certain social media
websites still carry the ‘Yves Saint Laurent’ name, but the brand
labelling is now ‘Saint Laurent Paris’. Customers are confused
as to how to refer to the brand, and certain garments such as
the handbags still have ‘YSL’ embodied on the garment, but the
label reads ‘Saint Laurent Paris’.
-The brand is not competitive in the digital sector. Their social
media presence is barely existent and they do not follow any
social media trends.
-Their website is very limited in terms of language, currency
and shipping.
-Brand awareness is lower than with other brands such as Guc-
ci, Dior, and Prada and more so in emerging countries.
Threats:
-Being part of an extremely competitive and fast paced world,
Yves Saint Laurent faces the possibility of being outdated with
their consistent aesthetic. It’s important to keep individualism
into their looks because more and more of their competitors
started to adopt the edgy, yet sophisticated black leather look.
-“Using both Yves Saint Laurent and Saint Laurent Paris is
a confusing strategy for most consumers” (Ries, 2012). The
confusion that emerged after the rebranding is still unresolved
and it prevents the brand from delivering a strong and clear
message.
-The brand continues to have a lower awareness among con-
sumers because of the less developed digital media image, so
competitors like Gucci or Burberry, who have really successful
digital campaigns, can take advantage of that and steer the
customers away from the brand.
-The counterfeit products provide similar quality and design at
a cheaper price and due to the poor economic situation, fewer
luxury customers increase the competition in the high-end
market.
Conclusion and recommendations

“If Chanel gave women their freedom, it was Saint Laurent who empowered
them.” (Pierre Berge, 2015). Yves Saint Laurent dared to dress all women, not
only the rich ladies how could afford the expenses of haute couture. Already
established as a luxury brand, Yves Saint Laurent has a steady customer base
that keeps growing every year, making it the star of the Kering Group, espe-
cially in the Asian countries with emerging economy.
After the successful rebranding and change of the creative director in 2012,
the new change made in 2016 is looked upon with more enthusiasm. The
brand should use this limbo period of transition to clear their image and start
transmitting a clear, organic message.
They should engage more ‘it’ celebrities in their campaigns since the poten-
tial customers are likely to follow their favourites. Also, a new strategy for
their social media could improve the customer base, attracting the younger
generation and increasing the brand awareness.
Since collaborations with important high-street brands are incredibly pop-
ular right now, Saint Laurent should try and create a line with a brand that
shares their values and aesthetic, such as The Kooples or All Saints.

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Appendix

1.Key financial
indicators 2015

3. 2015 SLP Figures

2.Performance by activity
Kering Group

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 4.Kering Group Full revenue breakdown 2015

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 5. Breakdown of recurring operating income
7.Harry Styles wearing
SLP boots

6. SLP 2015 final figures

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