Scene setting: In the sixties and seventies, Yves Saint Laurent became synonymous with Left Bank chic. The maison’s mark on fashion history – one which democratised ready-to-wear and revolutionised the fashion scene with safari suits, art-inspired dresses and Le Smoking, gained even more poignance last month, with the passing of Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent’s longtime partner in life and business. For the brand’s S/S 2018 show, a placard laid on the guests of seats was embossed with quote that Bergé wrote to Saint Laurent in a letter: ‘C’est peut-etre cela l’amour four. L’amour de demux fous’ (Maybe this is crazy love. The love of two madmen). Anthony Vaccarello’s collection too, was a love letter to the designer and the house’s home city. He held his breathtaking open-air show along the foundations of Trocadero. Models walked a misty catwalk with Eiffel Tower twinkling on the near horizon – the ultimate symbol of Parisian culture.
Mood board: Vaccarello presented his third catwalk collection for the house, a homage to the aesthetic and influence of Yves Saint Laurent, and his strongest offering yet. Through the smoke, there were safari-chic shorts and feathered stilettos, billowing patterned blouses in dusty tones, wide lapelled blazers, sequinned mini dresses and fringed knee-high boots (and update on last season’s rhinestone offering). The jubilant series of looks took viewers from Saint Laurent’s nightclub hangout Le Sept to his creative hideaway in Marrakech, and providing scintillating runway options for any of the designer’s adventures with his gang of muses.
Best in show: The collection culminated in a series of exaggerated couture silhouettes – puffy mini dresses cut from billows of tulle and finished with ostrich feather trim, bubble shape mini dresses in scintillating scarlet leather, plumes upon plumes of feathers and dazzling sequins. A spot on love letter the house of Yves Saint Laurent and a spectactular outing from Vaccarello.