Anthony Vaccarello is a designer who does things on his own terms. When he took the helm at Saint Laurent in 2016, he began showing collections that were brazen—scandalous, occasionally—in their overt sensual appeal. Razor-short mini skirts, sky-high stilettos, corsets with daring cut-out details, vinyl PVC trousers that stuck to the leg as if they’d been painted on… It was an interpretation of the Saint Laurent legacy that leaned heavily on skin and seduction. So what does the king of sexy do when the rest of the fashion industry follows suit, obsessing over all things mini, midriff-baring, and low-cut? He pares it back and turns down the heat.
For autumn winter 2022, a collection that the fashion critic Sarah Mower glowingly dubbed “the most lingeringly memorable of Anthony Vaccarello’s career,” the Belgian designer offered an interpretation of the YSL woman that married ‘seduction’ with a sense of understated Parisian elegance. The shift was apparent from the first look: a long cream gown styled with an oversized pea coat, and high lace-up sandals. It told a story—the woman who left the party at the exact right time, threw on a trusted old coat and made her way into the Parisian night with her hands in her pockets, revealing flashes of diamonds hanging at the wrist.
It was a sensibility that continued throughout the 55-look collection: oversized leather trench coats slung over sheer tulle skirts, simple cashmere rollnecks fashioned into a floor-skimming day dress (styled with layers of acrylic bangles, an homage to the British publisher Nancy Cunard, who inspired the collection) and glamorous oversized faux fur coats. Of course, the perfectly-cut Le Smoking suit featured in a series of closing looks—it’s a long-time brand staple and still the reigning embodiment of after dark Parisian cool. The palette was an understated gradation of ivorys, silvers, and greys—but the YSL girl will always reach for black, whatever the season.
The key word that sprang to mind was “sophistication” and it did, indeed, feel as if Vaccarello had levelled up on his vision for the brand. With so many designers cloying to dress the sex-positive Gen Z-ers as they venture back into the world post-Covid, Vaccarello is making a play for a different audience. It’s no coincidence that his casting featured supermodels of different ages: including his long-time muse Anja Rubik, who turns 40 next year. In a runway season that is so often awash with 20-year-old supers, this vision of quiet elegance felt refreshing.
