The Gucci Group purchased its 'rival' Yves Saint Laurent from its proprietor Sanofi at the end of 1999 for the important sum of US$ 1 billion. The watchmaking licence was, for many years in the hands of the Richemont Group. A non-strategic possession for Richemont, it had only dabbled with the brand's development, with relatively cheap products, equipped with a Citizen movement and sold principally in Japan and the Far East. Richemont therefore rapidly 'returned' this licence to its new owners.
Made Artistic Director of YSL, in addition to Gucci, Tom Ford swept away the old collections and entirely redesigned new models and a new identity for YSL.
The slowdown of Gucci's sales and the actual setbacks of the Group (Ford and de Sole have just resigned) certainly explain the fact that the brand YSL, whose potential and 'goodwill' are excellent, hasn't enjoyed the development that it could.