In some of Europe's big luxury houses, men's and women's clothing are very similar. Not necessarily at Saint Laurent, where Anthony Vaccarello closed Paris Fashion Week with his fall shows for women and men.
The former will be remembered for liberating the nipple with his radical dedication to sheer, body-hugging stocking materials; the latter for bravely recovering the suit and tie.
Take away the backdrop of Tuesday night (the likes of Kid Cudi, Evan Mock, Dominic Fike and Coi Leray slumped on sectional couches at François Pinault's private art museum) and you might think you're back at SEHM, the largest international men's fashion exhibition in Europe. , around 1988. The shoulders were big, the jackets were wide and double-breasted, the shirts and bulky ties were often the same color.
But many Saint Laurentisms were embedded in the exhibit: the large floral arch from which models emerged, just as they did at the founder's couture shows at the InterContinental Hotel in Paris; the spitting image of Yves Saint Laurent, who opened the show, thin and pale, his glasses heavy on his forehead, and the rich powdery colors and matte fabrics conveying Saint Laurent's soigné feeling.
The tulip-shaped champagne flutes and black carpet, as lush as Russian sable, also contributed to an atmosphere of decadent luxury.
The models strolled the perimeter of the Stock Exchange rotunda, their baggy trousers licking their shiny square-toed Oxford shoes. The round room and the shiny, almost curly rubber jackets subtly echoed the women's parade from a week earlier.
“More formal, more classic, more masculine,” Vaccarello said backstage in his pitch-dark interview suite.
He started with shoulders as Saint Laurent did, but executed his suits in languid, feminine fabrics like georgette met with satin. “There's no structure to the jacket and pants, so it's very flowy like a shirt,” he explained. “No gimmicks. Don't try too hard to make a statement.”
A readable, elegant and easy-to-appreciate collection at the end of an exhausting fashion month? What a bless. Thank you, Antonio!
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