17 SOLANGE

LAST YEAR

10

WHEN YVES SAINT Laurent developed the first pantsuit for women in 1967, he was both celebrated and ridiculed. But he revolutionized womenswear all the same. Last fall, Solange kept his tradition alive by appearing at the New York City Ballet’s Fall Fashion Gala in a suit by Balenciaga Haute Couture that brought to mind Saint Laurent’s iconic classics: nipped at the waist with broad shoulders and wide-leg pants. The look’s sense of elegant authority fit the moment; Solange had just become the first Black woman to score a piece for the NYC Ballet, and her outfit that night shows how well she understands that fashion can be political. “Might I suggest you don’t fuck with my sis,” Beyoncé said at the time. We heartily agree.