With Google looking for a “transparent” spike almost every time a major celebrity dons a see-through dress, it should come as no surprise that the “Transparencies” exhibition now running at the Yves Saint Laurent Museum in Paris sees record attendance.
More than 14,000 visitors have already passed through since its opening on February 2, at capacity almost every day, underscoring the vibrant interest in the legendary couturier's innovative work with sheer textiles, and in a trend that simply won't die .
On Tuesday night, Saint Laurent creative director Anthony Vaccarello constructed almost his entire fall collection from flimsy silk hosiery fabrics, which he said was a nightmare for the atelier, given the ease with which They can be hooked and staggered.
“I wanted to make something very fragile,” he said backstage, worried that his long dresses, blouses and pencil skirts wouldn't even hold together for the figure 8 models negotiated across the show's vast space, the floor looking like asphalt. wet and the walls surrounded by green damask curtains.
Vaccarello has been influential in organizing fashion shows with a memorable and unmissable silhouette and, therefore, a fashion message as direct as a bullet. Her spring collection was made up exclusively of cotton safari dresses and she said this fall effort was a reaction to that.
He cited a desire to make clothes that disappear or don't survive more than a day of wear, if anything.
“Don't ask me how we could produce it,” he said. “I think my job is to come up with something different that's not necessarily realistic or necessary.”
Vaccarello made a mocking expression when a critic mentioned “The Emperor's New Clothes,” Hans Christian Andersen's folk tale about the dangers of nonexistent cloth.
But even if the Belgian Italian designer was not familiar with that literary work, he pulled off a similar sleight of hand by successfully conveying Saint Laurent's sentiment through sensual nude clothing, while exalting the legacy of transgression, liberation and empowerment. feminine of the founder.
Sure, there were some nice flared-back coats, big down puffers, and some flared rubber peacoats.
But Vaccarello gave more air time to those barely visible ensembles, the fabric sometimes clinging, sometimes gathered, sometimes rolled. They came in powdery colors, makeup, and were accented by glittery platforms or open-toe pumps in deep burgundy or old Jaguar green.
The models' heads were encased in stocking caps and their wrists were filled with thick transparent bracelets.
Vaccarello said he had the idea for this extravaganza before the YSL museum revealed the theme of its spring exhibition. “But I think it's good that there is also this link with the foundation, so that people understand that here is also a house of transparency,” he said.
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