Saint Laurent has announced that it is creating couture collections again. But this isn't couture as you know it. Instead creative director Hedi Slimane has made something even more exclusive – offering the collection, shown in a series of campaign adverts released today, to special clients and friends of the house on a case by case basis. 

The brand hasn't made couture since the founder himself retired in 2002. When Slimane took on the role at the house, he began developing his exclusive collection and renovating a new atelier, a 17th century mansion called the Hôtel de Sénecterre. The building, originally constructed in 1685, is located at 24 Rue de l’Université in Paris's Left Bank and houses a dress making and tailoring atelier along with a collection of Elizabeth Eyre de Lanux furniture and art by Garth Weiser. 

All the couture pieces will be numbered and given the "Yves Saint Laurent" label in ivory silk (the Yves is back).