Through his dramatic runway presentations – with their equally dramatic backdrops, from the flashing lights of the Eiffel Tower to the deserts of Morocco – Anthony Vaccarello’s vision for Saint Laurent has been decidedly cinematic. Not to mention the numerous directors he has worked with during his tenure, from Wong Kar-wai to Gaspar Noé, and the Hollywood stars he has dressed (too many to count).
Today (14 April 2023), the house announces a new arm, Saint Laurent Productions, a registered subsidiary that will make it the first luxury brand to count ‘full-fledged film production’ among its activities. The project is led by Vaccarello himself, a reflection of what Saint Laurent says is the ‘cinematic breadth and nuances of his collections... [part of an] assured steering of the brand into the future’.
Saint Laurent Productions: the first film production company by a luxury house
Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal in Strange Way of Life (film still)
‘I want to work with and provide a space for all the great film talents who have inspired me over the years,’ the French creative director said in a statement this morning.
Unsurprisingly, Saint Laurent Productions will begin with a blockbuster start, participating in the 76th Cannes Festival (16 – 27 May 2023) with a short film, Strange Way of Life, by legendary Spanish director (and former Wallpaper* Design Awards judge) Pedro Almodóvar, starring Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal (the house is the feature’s associate producer). Almodóvar has said he does not want to spoil the plot, though the film is a Western that explores a friendship between Hawke and Pascal’s characters. Vaccarello has also designed costumes for the feature (all of the company’s upcoming films will feature clothing design by Anthony Vaccarello for Saint Laurent).
Other projects in the pipeline include new films by award-winning auteurs David Cronenberg and Paolo Sorrentino. ‘These directors never fail to open my mind and, in a way, the singular, radical vision they bring to cinema has made me the person I am today,’ says Vaccarello.
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