Above all else, the Saint Laurent woman is all about strength. The great master who founded the label catered to women who were fierce and fearless, dressing them in Le Smoking suits, safari attire, and show-stopping colors to match their confident attitudes. And in this current age of feminism, those looks mattered more than ever. The brand’s Fall 2019 collection was, at least for us, a wonderful surprise. Anthony Vaccarello is not one to highlight womanly power in his works. In fact, his higher-than-high hems and breast-bearing pieces were always too sexy and borderline vulgar. But here, he traded in his sexually crazed aesthetic for that of a stronger and more powerful look—well within the Saint Laurent vocabulary. You can see it in the menswear-like tailoring he opened the show with. Distinct shapes and dominant silhouettes anchored these shades-wearing women’s nonchalant vibe, but also a tougher ‘in-your-face’ kind of approach that’s extremely alluring. On the other hand, hints of animal prints and polka-dotted stockings added a flirtatious tinge of old-school glamour that’s also very Saint Laurent. As for the men, their look this season was a lot slicker, with tight-fitting leather pieces that almost had a vintage feel to them. We only wish that the show ended in this cooler Parisian vibe instead of finishing with a rather gimmicky black-lighted spectacle of glowing neon hues and opulent feathered frocks. The show would have fared a lot better without it!
Photo: Salvatore Dragone / Gorunway.com
