Fans of the incredibly popular Yves Saint Laurent Cabas ChYc Bag, you can breathe a sigh of relief: Hedi Slimane, Yves Sain- oops, Saint Laurent Paris‘ new creative director, is sticking with the brand’s most successful handbag. Women’s Wear Daily has an illuminating new look at what will change (lots!) and what will stay the same (not much!) going forward under Slimane, and although the handbag line will be otherwise completely refreshed, the ChYc’s unending love from fans has made it too valuable to discontinue.
Also sticking around? The forever-best-selling Yves Saint Laurent Tribute Pumps, which years ago ushered us into the era of enormous platform stilettos that we’re just now leaving. But will those styles remain unchanged? How far-reaching is the name-change going to be? And what about prices?
According to WWD, the ChYc will stick around, but only after a redesign by Slimane. It’s likely to retain the shape of the original, but I’d be surprised if the Y-on-Y branding went untouched; as we saw on Slimane’s first bag for Saint Laurent Paris, he seems to prefer a more pared-down look in line with Celine and The Row instead of the clear branding of the old YSL accessories. Since Slimane plans to alter the ChYc’s appearance, those aesthetic choices will likely guide the changes.
It also seems to be clear now that the Saint Laurent Paris name will be given to the brand’s accessories as well. When the renaming was first announced, people speculated that it would only apply to ready-to-wear, but the bag Slimane gave to Gwyneth Paltrow clearly
shows the new name and logo. As far as accessories prices go, we’ll have to wait and see, but WWD mentions that Slimane is looking to diversify (read: decrease) the brand’s ready-to-wear prices to attract younger customers. Here’s hoping that we can expect a bit of a discount on bags as well, but I wouldn’t bet on it. If you’d like to get in on the current Cabas ChYc, you can pick one up for $2150 via Neiman Marcus.
