Yves Saint Laurent Name Change: No More 'Yves' Under Hedi Slimane (POLL)

After the dust settled from the massive game of Designer Musical Chairs earlier this year (Raf Simons to Dior, Jil Sander to Jil Sander, Hedi Slimane to Yves Saint Laurent, Stefano Pilati to who knows where...), we thought we were done with the major house shake-ups.

But as rumors predicted yesterday, it seems there is yet another big change going on at a major design house: Yves Saint Laurent is dropping the "Yves." Welcome to the era of Saint Laurent Paris, people.

According to Women's Wear Daily, Hedi Slimane is looking to push the brand, founded by Yves Saint Laurent himself in 1960, into a more modern, youthful era. The streamlined name would be "Saint Laurent Paris," although the famous "YSL" logo would remain.

As WWD notes, there is precedent for the name change. Coco Chanel's house is known simply as "Chanel" and the house of Christian Dior is branded as "Dior" in most places, including on most of the company's online properties.

But Yves Saint Laurent, some might argue, is a more modern icon, one who only died four years ago. While he was alive he struggled with handing over his house to successors, unhappy with how his heirs, including Tom Ford, re-envisioned his eponymous brand. (Saint Laurent once wrote to Ford, "In 13 minutes on the runway you have destroyed 40 years of my career.") Given Saint Laurent's strong attachment to his brand and the stress he endured seeing it transformed, cutting part of his moniker out of the brand name may be deemed insensitive.

Read more at WWD.com and tell us in the comments: do you think Hedi Slimane should change the name of Yves Saint Laurent?

UPDATE, 7/9/12: According to the Business of Fashion, the name change only applies to women's ready-to-wear, not the entire brand (makeup, accessories, etc).