The more we look at Slimane’s Saint Laurent, the more we realise how good he’s getting for the brand, and in our eyes, this isn’t just any brand you can pick up and drop after a collection or two. SS15 gave us the kind of collection that could woo Saint Laurent’s iconic muse and hedonist in arms Loulou de la Falaise, probably. Probably, because a YSL customer was always a tough nut to crack, one who always demanded a certain level of éclat. Slimane has stepped up and delivered that though this season and we say bravo to him.
If anyone is going to be able to capture a trace of the seventies boho-luxe the Milanese where chasing after this season, it’s Slimane, so he delivered with glitter frosted platforms from the bottom and silver lame turbans to the top. Elsewhere, there was a vast display of slinky liberated minidresses donned by the usual model rock chicks with a new spring in their step and one of Slimane’s beloved bullfighter hats. Admid this there was some really pretty dresses and when Slimane chose to do decadent uninhibited drapes, they looked spectacular. You also have to approve Slimane’s choice of colour palettes and their play with fabrics, from rich plumy berry hues to chalky reds and green, brought alive with sparkly gold. It’s plain to see Saint Laurent Paris is the one-stop shop for mini, tight, festival girl-ish clothes.
Yet what was so glorious about this season was the more glamorous air, one which had more in common with YSL’s, not necessarily Saint Laurent Paris’, essence. Plugging the new Black Opium, a fragrance that treads heavily on the sanctified ground of YSL’s indelible heritage might have something to do with that.
Or maybe Slimane is just curbing the contents of his new collections (some of which would probably make Barbara Hulanicki think she was seeing double however), so that’s a bit iffy. However, heavens knows you’d have a hard time keeping our hands of some of the items in this collection, this is a special one after all, the first one in which it actually feels like Slimane is enriching YSL’s legacy.
by Liam Feltham
Images courtesy of Style.com