A decade at Saint Laurent deserves a spectacular celebration, and Anthony Vaccarello delivered one in gold. Gold jackets, gold skirts, gold lace, gold brocade. Put it this way – it was enough gold to hold its own against the Eiffel Tower, which is quite an undertaking.
Saint Laurent’s summer 2027 show unfolded beneath two enormous gold chandeliers at the Trocadéro, with the Eiffel Tower glittering behind the runway. The guest list was equally glamorous, with Zoë Kravitz, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Hailey Bieber, Donatella Versace, Zoe Saldaña, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Gabbriette among those in attendance. Kate Moss was also front row with her daughter Lila. Of course, Moss’s history with the house goes back to its early 1990s couture shows (including one memorable fitting with Yves Saint Laurent himself, when his pet pug bit her).
With rumours of Vaccarello’s departure circulating, there was plenty to discuss before the first model appeared. But as 59 looks emerged, 49 of them in gold, the clothes quickly took centre stage. They posed a question of their own: how much can you transform a familiar wardrobe simply by changing what it’s made of? Spoiler: in Vaccarello’s hands, gold changes everything.
Gold was a fitting choice for that experiment. Long before Vaccarello arrived, Yves Saint Laurent used it everywhere from coat buttons to elaborate eveningwear, exploring its possibilities through brocade, lamé, lace and embroidery. Against black, gold buttons, belts and chains became small but striking accents. His memories of Oran and Marrakech helped fuel that fascination. It became such a constant in his work that the Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris devoted its GOLD exhibition to the subject.
That history was close at hand. The museum at 5 avenue Marceau occupies the building where Saint Laurent worked on his couture collections from 1974 until his retirement in 2002. Here, Vaccarello brought that heritage into unexpected territory, including latex covered in gold leaf. Even rubber was getting the luxury treatment.
The opening look was a roomy, high-shine jacket, cinched at the waist, and paired with a narrow skirt and an olive scarf that extended almost to the ground. Everything about the stance suggested a woman getting on with her day; everything about the fabric suggested her day was considerably more extraordinary than yours.
Vaccarello took garments with recognisable functions – the safari jacket, the trench, the blouse, the skirt suit – and subjected them to a thorough metallic transformation. Utility pockets survived. So did belts, collars and the ease of a jacket pushed open at the neck. Their practical details became almost absurd in such lavish materials, but also useful.
These shapes have a long history at the house. Saint Laurent introduced his trench in 1962, adapting an officer’s coat with a shorter length and a more defined waist while retaining its raglan sleeves, belt and double-breasted fastening. The safari jacket, or saharienne, appeared in his collections in 1967, before Veruschka’s famous lace-front version helped make it an icon the following year. His women’s tuxedo, Le Smoking, had arrived in 1966. Borrowing from men’s wardrobes and changing how those clothes sat on women’s bodies was already central to his approach.
The strongest looks allowed those contradictions to coexist. A cropped, pocketed jacket and knee-length skirt retained a brisk, businesslike proportion, even as their surfaces appeared to crinkle like foil. Then the textures changed. Gold lace traced large floral shapes over the body. A fluid blouse gathered above a densely pleated skirt. Brocade brought weight and pattern to a narrow trouser suit, its cuffs finished with dark fur.
At times, so much gold made the looks feel too similar. A single colour, however many variations it contains, can flatten a collection into one long visual impression. Yet Vaccarello’s precise cuts kept each look distinct. The sharp shoulders, defined waists and carefully chosen skirt lengths made even the most extravagant looks work. They also made it recognisably Saint Laurent.
The house’s history was present in the safari references, the ornate fabrics and the dialogue between masculine tailoring and the female body. Vaccarello’s own vocabulary was equally visible: emphatic shoulders, controlled silhouettes, sensuality sharpened by severity. His women rarely look as though they are seeking anyone’s approval. Here, even dressed in enough precious-looking material to furnish a small palace, they kept their hands in their pockets.
The accessories? Naturally, super glam. Elaborate earrings and gilded shoes balancing on sinuous heels.
After 49 golden looks came a dramatic black velvet look with large jewelled buttons. The final evening dresses expanded around the body in great folds of dark fabric, with sheer sections giving their volume an unexpected lightness. One wrapped the shoulders before opening into a sweeping skirt.
There was more to come. Charlotte Gainsbourg suddenly appeared on the runway, her closing performance adding to the speculation surrounding Vaccarello’s future at the house. Whatever comes next, Vaccarello gave Saint Laurent a night worthy of its legend: dripping in gold, alive with glamour and full of seductive energy.
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