Saint Laurent takes inspiration from Deneuve for Paris
A month to the day after Catherine Deneuve auctioned 130 of her one-ofa-kind Yves Saint Laurent pieces for €1m (£860,000) at Christie’s in Paris, it seems apt that his label’s autumn/ winter 2019 show in the French capital should be inspired by the actor.
Deneuve was joined by two more of the house’s forever muses, Betty Catroux and Bianca Jagger (specifically in the 1980s), and their “sophisticated and liberated spirit” as inspiration for the show, according to Saint Laurent’s current creative director, Anthony Vaccarello.
As a result, the 103-look collection – 18 of which were menswear – remained loyal to the glitzy, power-shouldered silhouette it is distinguished by and that this season Vaccarello took to the extreme. “Everything starts from the shoulder, so I work around the shape of that,” he said, pointing to the exaggerated shoulders and substantial asymmetric swathes that stood almost independently, yet protectively, from the body.
Despite the collection’s proportions, Vaccarello was keen to point out that it shouldn’t be seen as oversized. “I don’t want to talk about oversized because everyone is talking about oversized. It’s more like a structured silhouette [with which] I want to give power to women.”
He added of his Saint Laurent woman: “She’s not a warrior, she’s not mean, she’s just confident.”
Other Saint Laurent hallmarks were also present, such as the iconic le smoking jacket, which came as a classic with silk lapels as well as reworked into a black patent mac and a long dress. The latter will likely prove a hit on the red carpet – where the label regularly appears – thanks to it drawing the fine line between empowerment and sensuality. Meanwhile, the masculine military-style wool coats that opened the show in grey, white and black, showed that it wasn’t just about clothes for a special occasion.
Staged in a giant mirrored box erected in the Fontaine du Trocadero against the glittering backdrop of the Eiffel Tower, Vaccarello created something of a light show of his own. Inside, a lightrod installation behind two-way mirrored glass was on such a large scale that it rivalled the lights of the famous landmark outside.
Despite the dazzling display lasting the entirety of the 20-minute show and providing what many described as “a fashion moment” afterwards, the designer played it down backstage. “I had no concept [for the lights], they came because we have to do a show and for a show you need lights and I prefer to do a light decoration.”
The second part of the show, in which models walk in UV light on the other side of the giant screens did, however, serve more than a creative purpose. Under an ultraviolet lens, the new line of flouro shoes that the brand is introducing for next season seemed to walk themselves, making the footwear the most memorable takeaway from the collection.
It was a savvy move given Vaccarello’s form for creating the most lusted after shoes of seasons past. The slouchy, thigh-high boots covered in 3,000 rhinestones on each foot, which he designed in 2017 and which went viral after Rihanna wore them, were on waiting lists around the world despite their $10,000 (£7,545) price tag. Saint Laurent will be hoping that they help them make their revenue target of €2bn by 2022, which CEO Francesca Bellettini said last November they were on track to do.