The lacy lingerie that lingered at the finale of Anthony Vaccarello’s last Saint Laurent runway show has walked into his pre-fall collection in a different way. Gilded lace, slit skirts, leather, fur-like shearling and lots of leg would sum up a first impression of this collection, a catalog of provocative looks that are available to buy now.
“For me, a pre-collection is more like a way for me to try to think what is wearable, more wearable than the show,” Vaccarello said on a Zoom call from Paris. “More like clothes that I want to see my friends wearing.” He’d started off by referring back to Yves Saint Laurent’s haute couture shows in the 1990s. That’s a period that’s largely beyond the reach of the internet, although we can rest assured that the great couturier was not participating in the grungy minimalism most associated with that decade. And here we are again: the erotic sophistication of Vaccarello’s Saint Laurent standing out against everything that has become tedious about the beigeness of today’s quiet luxury.
The idea of “sensuality and freedom” is much closer to Vaccarello’s heart. We had a funny conversation about all the sheer black-stockinged legs on show here. “For a lot of years, everything I’m doing is kind of long,” he laughed. “And every time I’m dressing like Rosé or Zoe Kravitz, those kinds of girls, they always try to modify my design. So this time, I thought, why not do it before they do?”
The Saint Laurent classic—the Smoking, always present, ever-relevant—reappears paired with tailored bermudas. To fashion historians, that’s a direct quote from Yves Saint Laurent’s radical co-option of men’s evening attire in the 1960s. To a young generation, the look of Vaccarello’s black leather version, worn with a wildly chic French attitude, cream pussycat bow blouse, sheer black stockings, and patent heels is just as smoking hot as you can get.
