For Saint Laurent’s autumn/winter 2020 catwalk presentation in Paris, Anthony Vaccarello broke the codes of bourgeois dressing by pairing pussy-bow blouses, silk neckerchiefs and tailored tweed blazers with second-skin latex leggings — it was bourgeois with bite.
Throwing aside the rulebook, Vaccarello revisited the well-behaved elegance associated with Saint Laurent in the nineties — and contrasted it with lace and high-shine latex in the form of pencil skirts, over-the-knee boots and tighter-than-tight leggings, used as the foundation of the collection.
“I wanted to find the balance between control and abandonment, the tension between discipline and pleasure that defines the modernity of Saint Laurent,” said creative director Anthony Vaccarello. “Mister Saint Laurent had a very peculiar vision of bourgeoisie, he almost rejected it.”
Elegant jackets adorned with velvet collars and gilded buttons in equestrian-style houndstooth, were layered upon glossy black, deep magenta and bold scarlet red latex and nineties tones of green, mustard and purple were reworked across blouses, blazers and fluffy coats.
If you weren’t sold on the latex — velvet, leather and a sprinkling of embellished sequins offered a more refined alternative, while accessories such as patent pumps and chunky gold jewellery sent yet another nod to the nineties in a collection full of nostalgia reimagined for the modern, self-assured Saint Laurent woman.
