Saint Laurent ramps up activity in Middle East through joint venture

By

Florent Gilles

Published
Apr 2, 2013

Saint Laurent is ramping up its presence in the Middle East. The fashion house owned by the Kering group (ex-PPR) has had a joint venture with its local partner Al Tayer Insignia since 2003. Based in Dubai, the collaborative structure will now more directly manage stores opened under the partnership in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, as well as the shop-in-shops at Harvey Nichols, Bloomingdale’s and the Level shoe district in the Dubai Mall. In the short term, Saint Laurent also plans to open a flagship store in Sowwah Square, the new business district of Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates.

“We are delighted to take an important step further into the UAE market through this strengthened partnership with Al Tayer Insignia,” said Paul Deneve, CEO of Yves Saint Laurent. “Saint Laurent has established a strong presence in the region and we feel that it is now time to enhance it even more in order to offer our customers a renewed experience with the Saint Laurent brand.”

The brand, having recently undergone a total makeover by Hedi Slimane, has applied its new architectural concept to its Paris stores on rue de Grenelle and rue Saint-Honoré and opened a new store in Berlin. The highly anticipated flagship on avenue Montaigne is set to open at the end of April.

The Al Tayer Insignia group is the leader in the distribution of luxury in the Middle East, representing over 30 Western brands and luxury labels that it promotes in twelve countries in the region. A few weeks ago, Gucci, another fashion house of the Kering group, also announced the formation of a joint venture in Dubai with Al Tayer Insignia, which has been distributing the label for over ten years.