YSL Logo History: How to Compare Design Changes Across Versions

Before you start

Clarify what you mean by the YSL logo. In fashion and beauty contexts, it usually refers to the intertwined letters designed by Adolphe Mouron Cassandre for Yves Saint Laurent in 1961. You do not need a special service or app for this comparison. Use clear photos, scans or screenshots you already have the right to view.

Find examples from different eras rather than one cropped close-up. Packaging, printed labels, garment tags, boutique signage and official site screenshots can show how sizing, letter spacing and background color changed. It also helps to compare the vertical monogram with simpler one-line spelling such as Saint Laurent or Yves Saint Laurent.

Step-by-step instructions

1) Open a photo viewer, image editor or plain PDF viewer that supports zoom. The process is local, so you can work with files already stored on your device.

2) Put two or three samples side by side at the same approximate size. This makes it easier to notice whether the letters are joined, overlapping or drawn as separate shapes.

3) For each sample, inspect the connection between the Y, S and L. The lockup is often described as the initials suspended from one another, but reproduction quality, line weight and the angle between the stems can vary.

4) Check what surrounds the mark. A version may appear on a plain card, a textured box, a video title or a rotated tag. Keep the mark separate from the material it is printed on when describing an actual design change.

5) Note the date only if the source contains a reliable date, such as a labeled archive image or an official campaign year. Do not assign a year from memory or guess it from the packaging style.

6) Save your comparison as a small note or screenshot grid. If you later use the images in a presentation, keep the source and date information with each crop.

Check the output

Zoom in until the letterforms are clear but not pixelated. If the source is a low-resolution photo, do not treat blur or compression artifacts as a difference in the original logo.

Confirm that each claimed change is visible in at least two independent positions: for example, the shape of the S, the angle between letters and the overall width of the lockup. A change visible in only one tiny area may be a printing variation rather than a new version.

Common problems and next steps

The hardest problem is separating a real redesign from lighting, rotation or physical curvature on a bottle or bag. Place the image on a neutral background and rotate it slowly while comparing one pair of letters at a time.

If you are unsure whether a version is official, look for the mark in several independent sources from the same period. Avoid using fan edits, unlabeled vector packs or low-quality reconstructions as proof of a historical version.

For a cleaner side-by-side view, crop each logo to the same margins and place them against the same gray background. Then describe the difference in plain terms: narrower S, stronger overlap, wider letter spacing or a different surrounding wordmark.