Last week, the luxury Parisian fashion maison Saint Laurent released the first episode of its new podcast, “Saint Laurent Smoking.” The podcast (offered in French and English) hosts friends of the house of Saint Laurent for a candid conversation “in complete transparency and without restriction,” as the brand explains. The first guest to participate in the series is one of Yves Saint Laurent’s muses, Catherine Deneuve, whose relationship with the late couturier traces back to 1965.
As the title suggests, the conversation takes place in a smoky room within the Saint Laurent Rive Droite store in Paris (secluded away from the sales floor.) In the inaugural episode, the 78-year-old French actress opens up to French journalist Pascale Clark about not originally being interested in film, her struggles with being in the public eye as a sex symbol and her longevity with the famed fashion maison.
In the 33-minute intimate exchange, Deneuve revealed that she wasn’t interested in the film industry at first. “No, not all,” she says, “but my sister was really destined for it that’s how I started…I was attracted to architecture, drawing, and painting at that time.” While she’s been a staple in French cinema since the ’60s, when asked if she still gets stage fright, Deneuve responded: “Yes, I think it will always be the case; I’ve always had it.”
Often referred to as “the most beautiful woman in the world” for Deneuve, that title “created pressure and a situation that you have to live up to this ideal and certain expectations, it was a difficult time for me.”
In her early years in the spotlight, she tapped Yves Saint Laurent to dress her for some of her biggest moments. When she was meeting the Queen of England (with then-husband British photographer David Bailey), she asked Yves to design her outfit. And again she suggested Yves design the costumes for the 1967 film, Belle de Jour (which he did).
She’s been a friend of the brand over the years, recently starring in the Spring 2021 campaign. “Through the years, as time went by and there were changes, I kept a link and met the new designer, Anthony Vaccarello,” the actress says of Vaccarello, who became creative director in 2016. “We got along really well, and I liked what he was doing with the brand and his shyness too.”
In future episodes, Saint Laurent’s “Smoking The Podcast” will feature other luminaries, including actress and singer Charlotte Gainsbourg, director Gaspar Noé, supermodel Laetitia Casta, and French actor Félix Maritaud.
