Yves Saint Laurent Couture Confirmed

Yves Saint Laurent is set to return to couture for the first time in more than a decade. The French house - which last showed a couture collection created by the founder in 2002, just before his retirement - has not yet confirmed whether it will show on schedule again, or just create bespoke creations for celebrities and clients in a similar way to Givenchy, but it did reveal that the pieces would be for both men and women.

Overseen by Hedi Slimane, who assumed his role as creative director in 2012, the pieces will be produced at the label's new atelier. The space, created inside a 17th-century mansion, Hôtel de Sénecterre, will house three separate areas: the Salon Couture, where clients will try the pieces; the Atelier Flou, for dressmaking; and the Atelier Tailleur, for tailoring, in order to facilitate the new venture, and boasts a "geometric garden" pioneered by Slimane, as well as furniture and art from both his own and the house's private collections.

"Hedi began to recompose the traditional couture ateliers of the house in 2012," the company revealed this morning. "The ateliers are now at the centre of the Saint Laurent project by Hedi Slimane. The ateliers also produce commissioned hand-made pieces for movie stars and musicians. Hedi determines which of these pieces will carry the atelier's hand-sewn couture label 'Yves Saint Laurent'. These couture pieces may be women or men, a tuxedo or an evening dress, daywear or eveningwear. The 'Yves Saint Laurent' private atelier label is made of ivory silk satin and is numbered by piece. The atelier keeps a strict record of all the couture pieces in a gold monogram book."