Editors and clients alike were left dazzled in 1983 by YSL's contribution to the Grands Projets.
Pret-a-porter, haute couture and beauty collections were engineered around his love for Paris, resulting in three (of many?) well known contributions that have arguably stood the test of time: YSL Paris, perfumer Sophia Grojsman's sumptuous take on Guerlain's Apres L'Ondee, his domino coat in yellow silk faille (a copy of which rests comfortably at the Met Museum) and his black velvet dress dominated by a huge luscious pink bow that unfurls and spreads across the back like a butterfly (a theme from his HC collection for spring of the same year). Dramatic, feminine, sensual, strong, optimistic though not needlessly so.
Fast forward nearly 33 years later. Slimane's take on parisian patriotism is subtitled 'Paris Sessions' and though designed in the sunny climes of LA and inspired, as always, by musicians, is presented in a city perhaps still emotionally reeling from a blood-soaked terrorist attack and renewed questions about freedom, identity and spirituality. It is beautifully defiant, both in its knowing androgyny and its 'updated classics' feel, a thesis statement summarizing not only his contributions to the house thus far but also his successes, considering how many of those contributions have been mimicked, not only by the high street but by his fellow designers.
For once, I like not only the spirit but the clothes as well, as they softly reference in minor keys, the work he did for the house originally in the late 90s. This sheen of chic helps to soften what antagonizes about these clothes, infuses them with a bit of mystery and signals warmth under the froideur, like the flash of metal on a black raised heel. Time will tell if people will be able to look back at the collection, with its pins, heels, berets, lace and feel the confusion, the loss, the remorse and protests of its time in it. For now, its easy chic, prohibitively expensive at a house known for celebrating the provocateur, no matter the weather.
