Bizarrely beautiful
The modern Saint Laurent woman is envisioned as having a taste for kitsch and irreverence.
IN fashion, you’re often told to dress the way you like. A highly individual style is praised, for example. Being able to “own” a certain look and truly make it yours? That simply means you’re a trendsetter.
Saint Laurent is channelling jewellery designer Paloma Picasso in its latest Spring/Summer 2017 ready-to-wear. Known for being eclectic yet chic, the woman inspired the 1972 Scandal collection.
At that time, the designs were seen as tactless and uncouth. You’d think that knee-length skirts, cropped fur jackets and boxy suits with wide pleated pants look normal. Well, they were disturbing to the eyes of the society back then.
It is this rebellious attitude that Saint Laurent brings to the present. As the Parisian fashion house explains, the modern woman that wears this season’s clothes “draws her references from the 1980s to make them her own”.
The starting point of the collection is a dress with exaggerated sleeves taken from the archives. From this, a contemporary silhouette is drawn – a sort of sensitive and personal collage.
With the shoulders brought down and a sleeve attached to the bustier, the piece is now paired with jeans or under a boy’s jacket. This in itself is a distant evocation of Saint Laurent’s sailor coat.
Tuxedos have been deconstructed and revised. They recall the fashion house’s celebrated silhouette but with a feminine twist. Each was transformed into a waistcoat, with razor sharp asymmetrical cuts.
Also seen on the runway in Paris last year were elements of asymmetry, retro sweetheart necklines and naughty sheer bodices. Variations of each came paired over pants and skin-tight jeans.
Other highlights included plunging bustier tops in leather or velvet, pelmet skirts and boyfriend jeans, a section devoted to draped gold lame, iterations of skinny smoking suits and variations on one-sleeved dresses.