Saint Laurent's chic safari
Legs, legs and lots of it – that’s always been Anthony Vaccarello’s signature look even before he joined Saint Laurent as its creative director in 2016. Slashing leather skirts across the hip bone to reveal the pelvage, mixing sheer with tactile textures and offsetting slick tailoring with carnal fluidity have been the potent catalysts in his design laboratory. Hence it isn’t surprising how he fits so effortlessly into the YSL mould – a design house, which has always shocked and seduced the world in equal measure.
From empowering women with Le Smoking to creating the epochal Mondrian jersey dress to his seminal ‘Robin Hood’ offering, which featured thigh-high crocodile boots paired with oilskin tunics to precisely crafting the wardrobe of Catherine Deneuve in Luis Buñuel’s Belle de Jour (1967) – Saint Laurent has always evoked strength, sass and seduction.
For the label’s Spring 21 outing (aptly titled, I Wish You Were Here), the mood of the digital film by director Nathalie Canguilhem (a long time house collaborator) was sandy, sensual and subversive with models cutting a fine silhouette in kicky metallic toe slingback heels against a sea of beige sand. The choice of pristine sandy undulating dunes kissed with the YSL logo could have easily been an homage to Monsieur Saint Laurent’s native Algeria where he was born. With strong nods to Yves’ game-changing La Saharienne or the safari jacket to the kitschy moodboard of Valley of the Dolls (1967) to the hothouse bloom reference reminiscent of The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972) to the Vidal Sassoon five-point cut, the collection was a cross medley of cinematic ideas and the label’s hallowed archival influences. For example, the floaty jersey dressing of the 60s and the sensual element of Stefano Pilati and Tom Ford’s era – like the lace underpants showed the line-up’s rootedness to the past which was presented with a contemporary touch.
If Anthony toyed with the Parisian chic last season packed with a strong s&m undercurrent – the boxy tartan blazers teamed with bodycon latex skirt, this show’s playful kaftans trimmed with marabou feathers radiated a sense of free-spiritedness evoking the spirit of travel and wanderlust. The jewellery handcrafted by Claude Lalanne lent the noir ensembles an exuberant touch. The show ended with flickering fire lighting up the dark desert landscape and letting the pieces do all the talking.
manish.mishra1@hindustantimes.com
