Saint Laurent Pre-Fall 2024 Paris

[passionfourfashion]

Meh, I feel like you can get a lot of these offerings elsewhere for a fraction of the cost, ie past season from other designers. Or just wait until Zara spits out their copy. All in all the collection is very nice, but very sedate.

 

[helmutnotdead]

Stefano Pilati described in the most accurate way the YSL: a woman who doesn’t work.

In a way he was right because the ultimate YSL woman is Betty Catroux.

It’s a YSL by Vaccarello collection so, YSL through the eyes of Azzedine Alaia with a dose of Tom Ford.

The casting doesn’t help but the whole thing doesn’t feel luxe enough. I feel like the current YSL woman would date the current Tom Ford man. But they aren’t as irrelevant and chic as they think they are.

damn that last line was something else! Cathy could never

 

[blueorchid]

It's nice (in comparison to the other dumpster fire collections we're used to), but... it's so boring.

Can't he lean into other aspects of YSL's archives? It's so dull and serious. Can't we have a little fun?

 

[Kimihiro]

Without the mood setting his shows provide we are exposed to how vapid and reductive his clothes are.

 

[lookatme]

He’s very much into the image…and not the substance.

He loves the image of a rail thin model in a snatched stiletto…but doesn’t really seem to care at all that she can barely walk in the shoes and looks like she could snap in two with one wrong twist of the ankle.

But that’s what makes his whole vision so unsexy…that he doesn’t care about the actuality of anything he creates.

And it’s so symptomatic of our culture though…it’s the same problem with all these young people being so provocative and sexual on Instagram…and then you meet them in real like and they’re timid and incapable of eye contact or a real conversation.

All bark, no bite.

 

[Lola701]

damn that last line was something else! Cathy could never

I wanted to say irreverent actually but the iPhone wanted me to be shady lol

 

[Kennnnn]

I'm so conflicted because I find myself agreeing with all the negative comments here about the lack of creativity, luxury and interest etc here; but at the same time - god, I really, really want to be this woman.

 

[philophile]

This is incredibly repetitive and boring to say the least. This is coming from someone who was a Vaccarello stan since his eponymous label, because it was one of the only brands and designers who I personally felt understood deeply the concept of feminine sexiness without falling into vulgarity. Yes, it felt like a modern day Catherine Deneuve in Buñuel's Belle de Jour. While repeating ideas is not a terrible thing and it's relatively common as long as you really reinvent them, doing it collection after collection after collection pretty much the same way denotes some serious lack of creativity.

The last time I loved his YSL was Spring 2023 and that's the woman I feel related to (I've been wearing floor length coats for nearly 10 years). Come to think of it, maybe that's the only collection I have truly loved from his YSL. Like said, I love the general aesthetic of the brand, but in reality, it's very hollow and lacks depth. It simply does not offer anything truly interesting.

BTW, I am definitely not a fan of his shoes for most of the part, not only because I find them so unimaginative, but because I suscribe to the idea that heels in this height have to be misogynist in nature. Seriously, these kind of heels are female torture devices and it's definitely the opposite of sexy if you try walking in that. I say so mostly, because I bought some years back a pair of his slouchy over-the-knee boots (which I still adore), but I am about to sell them, because I cannot walk in them to save my life.

 

[tricotineacetat]

He’s very much into the image…and not the substance.

He loves the image of a rail thin model in a snatched stiletto…but doesn’t really seem to care at all that she can barely walk in the shoes and looks like she could snap in two with one wrong twist of the ankle.

But that’s what makes his whole vision so unsexy…that he doesn’t care about the actuality of anything he creates.

And it’s so symptomatic of our culture though…it’s the same problem with all these young people being so provocative and sexual on Instagram…and then you meet them in real like and they’re timid and incapable of eye contact or a real conversation.

All bark, no bite.

Thank you, that summarized it perfectly and I agree with the observation you made of what we consider 'sexy' through means of social media. What Vaccarello does fits right in that shallow water, that's why the end result ends up sterile and not very much grounded in reality.

 

[philophile]

And it’s so symptomatic of our culture though…it’s the same problem with all these young people being so provocative and sexual on Instagram…and then you meet them in real like and they’re timid and incapable of eye contact or a real conversation.

I've been a staunch critic of this, but only because they all do it just to boost their engagement, likes, etc, not because they are authentic about anything they post. There have been a lot of studies from NGOs and statistics that indicate that Instagram indeed promotes this type of content, even if you literally never look at it nor give likes to photos like that. Instagram will bombard you with it, so it can't possibly be the algorithm showing you related content.

 

[donyan]

Wasn't he severely reprimanded about not showing any accessories in the last show?
I agree with everyone here, these are beautiful images showing a seductive but very old-fashioned idea of a Parisian woman. Saint-Laurent was always about a modern vision of the Parisienne, not this reductive and overtly simple version.
We get it, she likes sex and wants to seduce, but what also does she want?

 

[tricotineacetat]

The problem is that in that specific category you mentioned (certain body types at odds with the clothes), they're hardly different, and I'd throw Olivier Theyskens into the mix.. great clothes but especially in the runway presentations before the pandemic, holy s*it, his models pretty much ruined the clothes.. necklines, shoulders, sleeves, bustier, it was all floating on the models looking plain sad.

I don't know who the second model is and who told her that it's cool to rock some kyphosis, and whatever she's doing here with her legs, but... posture is everything.. she makes Saint Laurent look like thrifted s*it that she washed and customised herself.

You are right about that and I think in hindsight we can look back on these last few collections right before the pandemic as a confused time during which he wasn't exactly assured where to take his label and in which way to make an impactful statement - I actually enjoyed his first comeback show, mainly due to the choice of a lower heeled boot that showed promise to become a longstanding 'icon'. We already knew him as a creator of fabulous fashion imagery (in my opinion, MUCH more than Anthony Vaccarello) but what he needed the most was a sense of 'daily reality' to his vision.

That being said, sometimes it's not such a bad idea to just put the clothes on a tailoring bust or mannequin if you can't afford the right models to bring them alive. I think there is a general consent on this forum that his choice of presentation for his couture trilogy was considered a success.

 

[Lola701]

He’s very much into the image…and not the substance.

We are very much in the era of Creative Directors, no?
I think that era started with the Alexander Wang and others. It continues with the Jacquemus and all but Vaccarello is also part of that era.

And I’m not talking about designers turned Creative Directors but very much that thing of creative directors whose clothes are a supporting character at the service of the image.

We have a generation of designers who doesn’t have a signature. In Vaccarello’s case, it’s quite surprising because his own brand had a lot of signature.

Wasn't he severely reprimanded about not showing any accessories in the last show?

His last show was actually the first time I think that he included bags. They looked like fur coats but he showed a full range of accessories last season.

 

[tourbillions]

it’s quite surprising because his own brand had a lot of signature.

really.. i felt that his own brand was a redux vauthier.

 

[brandon J pierre]

It's all about image with him and that's ok! I can never understand why the younger designers that take over these houses never look through the archives this is a big house with a lot of history yet it's sort of in the same direction. Anyways I like the image the show last season was beyond hot but what are you actually buying? Tom Ford love this guy by the way 😏.

 

[tourbillions]

try hard or not her woman is very sexy and hates not being able to show off some skin. She's atleast not a gen z whos wearing a lot fetish wear to look "sexy". And gets made when they're noticed/fetishized. I do wonder how the womens rtw look in stores. I'm sure there are still a lot of wearable pieces they produce that arent in the shows.

 

[brandon J pierre]

try hard or not her woman is very sexy and hates not being able to show off some skin. She's atleast not a gen z whos wearing a lot fetish wear to look "sexy". And gets made when they're noticed/fetishized. I do wonder how the womens rtw look in stores. I'm sure there are still a lot of wearable pieces they produce that arent in the shows.

Me to seem like the store in mid town Miami is gone. It's all boarded up with wood maybe they're just moving. They don't seem to have a large on line collection. It's skimpy for sure 😩

 

[yslforever]

His last show was actually the first time I think that he included bags. They looked like fur coats but he showed a full range of accessories last season.

And there were some leather enveloppes stuck in trousers 4 years before, but yes he never shows bags on runways, I have heard by the execs he hates doing or showing bags and I am fine with that. He is not involved in designing the bags at all, he even hates the YSL Cassandre logo, and never use it personnally, he designs without the YSL then delegates to his studio to add the branding.

Stefano Pilati describing the YSL woman as "a woman who doesn’t work" is certainly true (especially under HS and AV and at current price tags) but pretty ironic because he was the CD who offered the most to working women: those famous tunic and pants ensembles, so many tailleurs and ensemble, the most comfortables heels coming from YSL in years (the Tributes), and that Muse bag, the business bag of every working girl back then.

 

[tigerrouge]

A vision of womanhood that's one of knock-kneed frailty with bits of lace hanging on the body like a decades-old curtain that's seen better days. Posing up a storm when alone in a room, but with not enough confidence to stride out into the world. But if you wear shoes you can't walk in, they provide the perfect excuse for why you can't go anywhere. I mean, not when you could stay at home and roleplay in the mirror.

 

[Lola701]

And there were some leather enveloppes stuck in trousers 4 years before, but yes he never shows bags on runways, I have heard by the execs he hates doing or showing bags and I am fine with that. He is not involved in designing the bags at all, he even hates the YSL Cassandre logo, and never use it personnally, he designs without the YSL then delegates to his studio to add the branding.

Stefano Pilati describing the YSL woman as "a woman who doesn’t work" is certainly true (especially under HS and AV and at current price tags) but pretty ironic because he was the CD who offered the most to working women: those famous tunic and pants ensembles, so many tailleurs and ensemble, the most comfortables heels coming from YSL in years (the Tributes), and that Muse bag, the business bag of every working girl back then.

IKR about Stefano! That was the irony of it all! At it peak, YSL was very working women friendly but he indeed said that. So making a fantasy working woman wardrobe for a non working woman is something he did perfectly. And even when he introduced the Edition 24 with prices more fitting to that clientele.

Unfortunately, I think commercial success made him lose track a little bit. His clothes were never the same after 2009.

And while I have some pieces of Tom I still love and hold on to, the pieces of Stefano are the ones I still wear a lot. I think from 2006 to 2009, he did his thing.

And I think still that he introduced with the 3 collections (FW2007/SS2008/FW2008) something in the cut that prepared for what Phoebe Philo did later. And I even remember being pissed by how Stefano her first resort for Celine was.

For me, Tom was the most Saint Laurent in the spirit and the fantasy of what was Saint Laurent in the 70’s. Stefano for me understood maybe the idea of a modern working woman at some point, that can be linked with how Saint Laurent became the go to brand for some bourgeoise women entering the working life in post 68.
Alber wasn’t confident even if it was chic and more classic.

Hedi never got Saint Laurent for me. Even if Saint Laurent dressed musicians, he was more Opera and glamour nightclubs than groupie at a sweaty rock event.

Vaccarello is pure fantasy. That woman is a mirage lol