YSL to change its Name, dropping the 'Yves'

Yves Saint Laurent's new creative director Hedi Slimane will rebrand the iconic fashion house as Saint Laurent Paris.

Yves Saint Laurent will drop the 'Yves' from their name, the brand has confirmed.

Newly-appointed creative director Hedi Slimane is keen to "thrust Saint Laurent into a new era modern", reports WWD , and thinks removing the founder of the brand's first name from the famous moniker is the way forward.

The house will be rebranded Saint Laurent Paris, although the iconic YSL logo will remain the same. The move is not be an entirely new one, the majority of the major fashion houses go by a singular surname - Versace, Gucci, Chanel, Prada.

When appointed, Slimane - the former creative director of Dior Homme - was given "total creative responsibility for the brand image and all its collections" and is said to be focusing on "recapturing the impulses that inspired the founder to launch the Saint Laurent Rive Gauche ready-to-wear line in 1966 - among them youth, freedom and modernity."

Slimane, who is also working on a new store concept for the brand, will show his debut womenswear collection during Paris Fashion Week this September, and the new branding is reportedly set to be unveiled shortly beforehand.

As yet, Yves Saint Laurent have not released an official statement regarding the change, while Pierre Berge, Saint Lauren't lover and business partner of 50 years, is yet to comment.

Despite the change we think it's unlikely that fashion's most famous acronym will ever disappear.