The Querelle of YSL

A sunrise, a sunset. The cut light enters the large hall embracing the elongated figures of the models and the designer seating at Berlin’s Neue Nationalgalerie, Ludwig Mies van de Rohe’s last major project. The location chosen by Anthony Vaccarello to tell the story of the men of Saint Laurent breaks some clichés. «Berlin? It is not directly linked to Monsieur Yves. I wanted to take the next step in storytelling», Vaccarello himself explained to MFF shortly before the start of the show. «However, I did not want a story that mentioned the cool kids in the city, rather a continuation of the elements I am using. The silhouettes seen in women, masculine and feminine, with a cinematic touch inspired by Fassbinder».

It is precisely the soundtrack that references the notes of Querelle, Fassbinder’s last film, when the first outfits that reinterpret the dinner jacket, dictating human geometry, enter the scene. The jackets have oversized shoulders and are accompanied by high-waisted trousers, for a physicality that is as extreme as a sketch, where the top always offers surprises. Shirts are reconstructed with whiffs of volume. A very provocative, sensual side of a camisole with a little to cover breaks through, very Querelle in her nocturnal adventures.

Shoulders are revealed by draping and asymmetry, playing with extremities of a plush suit without looking sporty, or in the lightness of a top with a train that skims the ground. Small pleats and couture work to decorate the chest, to dip it in a night of small polka dots that open a graphic way dear to the Maison, like those animal scratches that intersperse midway through the show, to give a wild thrill.

Judgment. Black. You do not need a dress code to go to the Saint Laurent show, because the brand’s followers know no other color verb, in a suspended mix with those almost impossible silhouettes with such a precise and different vision that they can peacefully coexist with other fashion tribes without cannibalizing or stepping on each other’s toes. A bit like opera, you either hate it or love it. However, it is easier to love the work Anthony Vaccarello is doing at the Kering Group’s Maison. (All rights reserved)