Saint Laurent Menswear F/W 2023.24 Paris

[Frederic01]

Love the Silhouette!


D.Repubblica.it

 

[LadyJunon]

The Vogue Runway review:

BY SARAH MOWER

January 17, 2023

Long, tall, lean, chic. Those were the words that spontaneously shot to mind while Anthony Vaccarello was sending out a menswear collection that swept away the gendering of clothes with every passing flick of its floor-grazing coat-tails.

At Saint Laurent, it was instantly very clear: Vaccarello has been building on the dramatically attenuated silhouettes that have been striding out at his women’s collections recently, and their transference into menswear is now complete. “I really want them to be almost one person,” he said. “So women could be the men, and the men could be the women. No difference. I want more and more to put them at the same level. No distinction.”

While the audience reclined on a circular banquette, sipping Champagne at the perimeter of a beige center-stage—this much was almost pure Tom Ford for Saint Laurent era decadence—it was equally apparent that Vaccarello was speaking about his idea of what drop-dead elegance means to people of his own generation. In material terms, that translates to dark, vertical, narrow coats; black leather and velvet; necks exaggeratedly tied in flourishing bows or sunk funnel-necks; the cool, tailored swagger of Smoking jackets, the cache-coeur drape of tops and chest-revealing cowl-front silk shirts that plunge into wrapped cummerbunds.

Whereas what was for “her” was pioneeringly co-opted from “him” by Yves Saint Laurent in the 1960s and ’70s, now Vaccarello has reversed the process in the 2020s. Of course, the codes of the house offer endless gifts to play with on the menswear scale: patent block heels, adaptations of the p*ssy-bow see-through chiffon blouse, a hint of the North African draped hood. Vaccarello did all that, with a confidence and conviction that is all his own.

What’s progressive about it is the way he’s pushed past anything that might be categorized as “blurry,” “fluid” or “neutral.” In the bigger scheme of fashion, his contribution is bringing exactly the opposite qualities to rethinking clothes and gender: what Vaccarello deals in is rigor, precision, and a brilliant ability to cut. It was a true Saint Laurent on-brand orchestration, for sure, but a resonantly relevant step forward for the designer too.

 

[Lola701]

I don't think you can compare this to Hedi at all. He has already shown that he can't evolve as a designer. He's superb at evolving and developing his skills as a merchandiser and marketing extraordinaire, but as an actual designer? I don't think so.

A lot can be said about Hedi as a womenswear designer and I’m the first one to say it but in menswear, he is untouchable. The styling can be questionable but when he does tailoring, we are forced to admire. A grey suit with a salmon silk shirt and animalier boots sounds wild but is actually the right mix of masculine and feminine that is desirable on men and women…

I think in womenswear, Anthony has found his voice and separated himself from Hedi’s shadows because you see the confidence. This is not confident for me…

I thought you said you were already tired of Charlotte in SL. What's changed?

I’m still tired of her in SL but when it’s good, it’s good…I don’t know if you saw the movement of those pants when she walked, it was stunning. I can think of 3/4 moments when she really looked gorgeous in YSL and this is one of them…

 

[Lola701]

Oh god !!!!!! She's paid, and most of her career is due to her surname; she doesn't hold 5% of her father talent.
Her contract was 2 m€ a year, now reduced to 1.5 because YSL is investing in her museum project.

But she is certainly a good actress…
So they are investing in Rue de Verneuil? Interesting…

 

[yslforever]

But she is certainly a good actress…
So they are investing in Rue de Verneuil? Interesting…

Yes, 3,4 m€ in total, 900,000 € right now and 500,000 € each year for 5 years, so they changed her contract from 2m to 1,5m per year.

 

[Frederic01]

A lot can be said about Hedi as a womenswear designer and I’m the first one to say it but in menswear, he is untouchable. The styling can be questionable but when he does tailoring, we are forced to admire. A grey suit with a salmon silk shirt and animalier boots sounds wild but is actually the right mix of masculine and feminine that is desirable on men and women…

I think in womenswear, Anthony has found his voice and separated himself from Hedi’s shadows because you see the confidence. This is not confident for me…

Hedi's tailoring is strong but personally I'm not in awe of it. For me, his tailoring from the Dior Homme years was untouchable, but now at Celine, not so much. Honestly, Demna's tailoring is much more interesting IMO, even at the level of ready-to-wear.

I digress, it's so interesting that you don't find this be a confident outing for Vaccarello. That's exactly how I would describe this collection.

It's a very brave and bold move for a brand like Saint Laurent to put out such a refined and chic menswear collection given that their recent success is so rooted in casual and more affordable pieces like denim, t-shirts, and sneakers.

This is a very confident vision and one that you have to kind of admire considering what is going on in menswear right now. We are still in the era of logos and hype beasts after all...

 

[IloveDiorHomme]

I felt like half of the show was a bad copy of Demna's Balenciaga...

 

[ah ah]

This is probably the best collection Anthony presented for men, sophisticated and well balances in silhoettes. Absolutely in love with it.

 

[Frederic01]

YSL

 

[Nomar]

As always, a gorgeous show Anthony knows how to put on. The styling is quite OTT as usual and some of the fits are questionable BUT I think if I had the height, I would love to wear a lot of these pieces. Such chic evening wear!

I think I've definitely grown to appreciate Anthony's menswear at YSL more. It's refreshing to see a designer embracing masculinity in a sexy and feminine way (and done well of course). People are always gonna keep comparing his work to Heidi but I'll take this any day over that terrible Gen Z androgynous wannabe rocker client at Celine.

 

[tricotineacetat]

I can appreciate the attempt to emulate the vision laid out in his last few womenswear shows to create a menswear identity of his own, but this really ain‘t it.

The success of most menswear modernizers in the past, be it Hedi Slimane, Raf Simons, Helmut Lang or Rick Owens, has been a profound understanding of not only the craft itself but the necessity of a pragmatic thinking that the metier of menswear is not that of playing merely dress up with womenswear adapted to a male body - A sense of utility and purpose is a fundamental aspect of menswear design that a lot of younger generation designers creating clothes for men seem to forget about. These proposals have no reality in anybody‘s wardrobe and it‘s safe to assume they will only end up as total looks on the usual celebrity suspects, while the commercial merchandise will tell a whole other story.

 

[LadyJunon]

Hedi's tailoring is strong but personally I'm not in awe of it. For me, his tailoring from the Dior Homme years was untouchable, but now at Celine, not so much. Honestly, Demna's tailoring is much more interesting IMO, even at the level of ready-to-wear.

I digress, it's so interesting that you don't find this be a confident outing for Vaccarello. That's exactly how I would describe this collection.

It's a very brave and bold move for a brand like Saint Laurent to put out such a refined and chic menswear collection given that their recent success is so rooted in casual and more affordable pieces like denim, t-shirts, and sneakers.

This is a very confident vision and one that you have to kind of admire considering what is going on in menswear right now. We are still in the era of logos and hype beasts after all...

As always, a gorgeous show Anthony knows how to put on. The styling is quite OTT as usual and some of the fits are questionable BUT I think if I had the height, I would love to wear a lot of these pieces. Such chic evening wear!

I think I've definitely grown to appreciate Anthony's menswear at YSL more. It's refreshing to see a designer embracing masculinity in a sexy and feminine way (and done well of course). People are always gonna keep comparing his work to Heidi but I'll take this any day over that terrible Gen Z androgynous wannabe rocker client at Celine.

While Anthony's main strength is in his womenswear, I can confidently say that this will be one of the best outings we'll get this week.

Also for Vaccarello, a corporate designer, to push this masculine high-fashion sophistication in an era that demands the absolute opposite shows his independence of thought and the suits' trust in it.

Hedi and Demna's men may be "cool and cutting edge", but they live in a world ruled by Vaccarello's men.

 

[Lola701]

Hedi's tailoring is strong but personally I'm not in awe of it. For me, his tailoring from the Dior Homme years was untouchable, but now at Celine, not so much. Honestly, Demna's tailoring is much more interesting IMO, even at the level of ready-to-wear.

I digress, it's so interesting that you don't find this be a confident outing for Vaccarello. That's exactly how I would describe this collection.

It's a very brave and bold move for a brand like Saint Laurent to put out such a refined and chic menswear collection given that their recent success is so rooted in casual and more affordable pieces like denim, t-shirts, and sneakers.

This is a very confident vision and one that you have to kind of admire considering what is going on in menswear right now. We are still in the era of logos and hype beasts after all...

I think you see confidence in the intention…I see a lack of confidence in the execution. When I see the way those shoulders fits on the models, I see the whole thing, I just don’t find it believable.
Maybe I need to expand my pov on menswear. When I see CDG, I can appreciate or not for what it is in terms of wearability and practicality but maybe I need to apply the same pov for menswear…
But when I think about that, Gaultier or Galliano had done super sophisticated glamour collections for men that I found more commanding.

But You are right in terms of creative direction. He really puts YSL in a league of it own in this kind of glamorous decadent formality.
Are the YSL man and woman a couple or siblings…They are definitely siblings.
But I’m curious to see who wears it first on the Redcarpet.

 

[Cocteau Stone]

It's definitely confident in a way that one would expect. You have to have some form of it to be designing at a house such as Saint Laurent, especially after Hedi and also with an archive that is so rich.

But I'm not fully convinced. And I don't think Vaccarello is with the way he showed himself for his bow. Menswear isn't his thing so he needs to work with someone with a strong background in it to help supervise his navigation or just let them do it.

There are some things I do like, but I know would look horrible on me, hair chest and all. Some pieces also look like what Peter Do is trying to do, just without the "fashion goth-ninja" pretentiousness.

If he looks to toy with sex and gender, he needs to get a little more playful. Get some David Gandy-like models in there, or even those that harken back to COLT Studios in the 70s just for some excitement.

 

[brandon J pierre]

this is perfect

 

[tricotineacetat]

I think you see confidence in the intention…I see a lack of confidence in the execution. When I see the way those shoulders fits on the models, I see the whole thing, I just don’t find it believable.
Maybe I need to expand my pov on menswear. When I see CDG, I can appreciate or not for what it is in terms of wearability and practicality but maybe I need to apply the same pov for menswear…
But when I think about that, Gaultier or Galliano had done super sophisticated glamour collections for men that I found more commanding.

But You are right in terms of creative direction. He really puts YSL in a league of it own in this kind of glamorous decadent formality.
Are the YSL man and woman a couple or siblings…They are definitely siblings.
But I’m curious to see who wears it first on the Redcarpet.

I don't think you need to reconsider your view on menswear, I am seeing the same thing as you - In theory, it's a nice idea to bring the vision of menswear closer to the womenswear - After all, we have for years rightfully called out Saint Laurent menswear post-Hedi to look like a blatant autopilot of his style, but to a result that made it hard to distinguish it from other imitators.

Yet at the same time, you can tell by the execution that this looks more like the womenswear was adapted for skinny boy models rather than a full-fledged proposition for men. I am all in for a dash of daring subversiveness, but to me, there are way too many challenging elements here - from the very high heeled boots, to the delicate womenswear fabrics and the detailwork on the clothes (extreme shoulderpads, super long lengths, very large lapels that make the tailoring look like womenswear and not menswear)... With Hedi, you would have maybe one such thing, but as part of a harmonic look that felt believable and approachable for a customer to pull it off. His Dior Homme FW'06 collection is far superior to this.

 

[Foxie-Pooh]

that 06 collection was the first thing that came to mind as well when I saw this...perhaps a bit too restrictive by today's standards but that it does feel more "believable"

 

[Phuel]

I think you see confidence in the intention…I see a lack of confidence in the execution.

Absolutely.

But absolutely genius branding— of which they can afford to go all out and beyond for the shows/campaigns/retail. Anthony’s design talent has always been just average at best, and despite the sharp graphic lines, you're right (as usual) about the unconvincing execution (those shoulders are verging on caricature, drag king sensibility); he’s nowhere of the level of his predecessors Tom Ford/Hedi Slimane/Stefano Pilati, all of whom are able to translate daring proposals with a technician's execution into wearability for men.

But of course, what he lacks in design talent, he absolutely compensates for with marketing talent. Kering is extremely smart for producing these decadently expensive shows, because such a directional vision of showpieces will no doubt sell the basics and those damn Vassili and Wyatt boots. His shows serve the same purpose as how HC presentations of the 80s would sell the fragrance lines. His brand of shows will absolutely sell the merch.

Brilliant brilliant brilliant branding in this current era.

 

[volft]

I think it speaks volumes that Hedi is in the back of everyone's minds when they're evaluating Anthony's work. You've either got the x-factor, or you're being compared to the one who does. There's other creative directors who have done menswear at YSL, but it is always Hedi that they will be compared to. Fashion is democratic now, but I suspect people here still think their opinion matters in shaping the discourse and narrative. The people vote with their wallets in what they believe in. I feel like the success of Hedi's Celine is making people feel extra defensive. There is really no need to bring up Hedi when evaluating Anthony's work. Just like how there is no need to bring up Phoebe when evaluating Hedi's work at Celine.

 

[susseinmcswanny]

I think one thing this YSL can do to detach itself from Hedi is try a new style of website... they never changed anything about it and it's now still an exact copy of Celine's.