Eight years after presenting his first-ever show for Saint Laurent at the maison’s Rue de Bellechasse HQ, creative director Anthony Vaccarello returned to its courtyard during Paris fashion Week to present a collection that can only be described as an alchemic blend of his own brand of laid-back sensuality and Yves Saint Laurent’s distinct creative code.
In fact, Yves became the starting point for Saint Laurent's S/S 2025 collection: Inspired by an interview from 2000 in which the late designer remarked that he was the Saint Laurent woman, Vaccarello made him his muse.
Doppelgangers for Yves – models dressed in oversized blazers, sharp shoulders, leather bomber jackets and slicked back hair (Bella Hadid returned to the runway after a two-year hiatus wearing his signature thick rimmed glasses) – stepped into an open-air forum that was reimagined as a Moroccan amphitheatre, an homage to Saint Laurent's love for the North African country that inspired many of his unforgettable collections, and informed his taste in art and interiors.
Reborn as a Boutique Hotel, Yves Saint Laurent’s Villa in Tangier Celebrates the Colours and Crafts of Its Magical Location
The greatest design stories from AD Middle East, delivered to your inbox
Transforming the 18th century building’s historic courtyard (it was once home to the Penthemont Cistercian Abbey and later the French Ministry of Defence before being installed as the brand's HQ in 2019 after a three year renovation) into a stage in the round, a staggering band in burnished gold – propped up by slender columns – encircled the space, its’ monumental volume framing the night sky like a oculus.
Below, a cobalt blue runway paired with the building’s arched internal facade felt like an abstraction of Jardin Majorelle, Yves’ beloved riad in Marrakech.
Strong and sensual from start to finish, Vaccarello’s S/S 2025 Saint Laurent collection for the latest Paris Fashion Week is a sum of two halves: an androgynous beginning and an unapologetically feminine end (think diaphanous blouses, brocade dresses and tiered short skirts in a riot of colours, from ruby red and kingfisher blue to burnt orange and warm turmeric), and of course, Paris and Marrakech. Above all else, it signals something rare in fashion – a house that is gloriously in tune with its past and future. Yves Saint Laurent would’ve been proud.
