ANTHONY VACCARELLO LEAVES SAINT LAURENT
words by NIA TOPALOVA
Vaccarello gave us one too many clues. Still we did our very best to deny them until the last instant, in hopes it would make it all easier to digest. After passing the keys of the House to his son at the Saint Laurent finale last week, Anthony Vaccarello marked his tenth, and last year at the House. He did that under three massive candlelit chandeliers throwing shadows across forty nine head-to-toe golden looks, the archetypes of the Saint Laurent wardrobe from over the decades, sharing in his show notes: “A light shines all the more brightly because we know it cannot be held. What passes sometimes leaves more light than what remains.”
image courtesy of SAINT LAURENT, photographed by INEZ AND VINOODH
Born in Belgium and half Italian, Vaccarello comes from a middle-class family of Sicilian emigrants. His mother had a wardrobe filled with classic ankle-length skirts, and even as a little boy, Anthony, whose mind was constantly occupied by MTV, Madonna, and Jean Paul Gaultier, had quite an urge to push her to be a little more daring in her fashion choices, sharing with Bella Freud during a session of Fashion Neurosis. Perhaps it had to do with his childhood obsession with Gianni Versace.
Yves Saint Laurent has often been spoken of as an elegant, pale, very charming, shy and neurotic man. In a way, these lyrically layered adjectives are calling Vaccarello’s name; maybe it’s his ritual of isolating himself completely before each show, taking deep breaths, and reminding himself it’s too late for anything else now, because the show is about to start. Monsieur Saint Laurent has shared repeatedly that he does not have any fun doing fashion, inarguably he hates it, and shows terrify him. At the exact same time, women were screaming “Long live Yves Saint Laurent!”, from the balconies of his salon.
In an interview with Bianca Jagger:
SAINT LAURENT: I don’t at all search for an ideal woman, but several ideal women.
JAGGER: Several ideal women?
SAINT LAURENT: Yes, each model I have represents a type of ideal women to me.
JAGGER: But the epitome… A few women…
SAINT LAURENT: Few? Why I know at least six. [They laugh.]
JAGGER: And men, do they have any influence on your work?
SAINT LAURENT: Absolutely not at all.
JAGGER: Not at all?
SAINT LAURENT: Absolutely not.
Vaccarello moved away from that pursuit of perfection. In fact, he created his own version of the Saint Laurent woman: decadent, free, and sexually liberated; she doesn’t need the approbation of anyone as she does not desire to please. Vaccarello himself does not care to please or to compromise either. He’s interested in creating a desire one might not even have known existed, or thought was necessary, and probably isn’t, but once it is there, it is strong: “It’s always black, always sexy.”, sharing back in 2011, right after his third season for the House. He brought further cultural resonance to the House by working closely with cross-generational icons, models, and artists, his muses: Kate Moss, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Catherine Deneuve, Anja Rubik, Béatrice Dalle, Zoë Kravitz.
SAINT LAURENT Spring/Summer 2017, images courtesy of SAINT LAURENT
Days after the departure of Hedi Slimane in 2016, who worked close to Pierre Bergé, Vaccarello was appointed creative director of Saint Laurent, overseeing the womenswear and menswear collections. Slimane’s vision played around his idea of preserving youth, while Vaccarello’s aim was to reintroduce Saint Laurent as House for more generations, often asking himself what should Yves Saint Laurent have done back then to be relevant for today’s generation?
He introduced the colourful windbreakers, saying that if Monsieur Saint Laurent ever engaged with sportswear, he believes this is exactly what it would look like today. In his Fall 2024 collection, he made garments entirely of stockings that cannot be sold, at a moment when everyone was afraid of losing clients. He designed nylon ball dresses, receiving feedback that “Saint Laurent would have never done that”, and stuck to the idea of creating something new, something, in a way “wrong”.
SAINT LAURENT Spring/Summer 2023, images courtesy of SAINT LAURENT
Vaccarello staged his first outing for Saint Laurent on the grounds of a former monastery on the Rue de Bellechasse in 2017, becoming the headquarters for the House soon after. For SS23, he chose the Saharian hillside for his Women’s Summer collection, a location that used to be a source of inspiration for Yves himself, craving a ten meters long YSL into the hills.
Last June, at the Paris Bourse, he filled the room with Fujiko Nakaya’s artworks and steam enveloping the entire space as models walked; He reinterpreted the Le Smoking tuxedo, invented the YSL logo heel, and designed Anja Rubik’s famously hip revealing white satin dress for the Met Gala in 2012.
Passionate about cinema, stating that “fashion should be like movies”, he founded Saint Laurent Productions in 2023, becoming the first fledged film production subsidiary created by a luxury fashion house, with the brand providing both financing and costuming. Some of the projects include Strange Way of Life (2023) directed by Pedro Almodóvar, Emilia Pérez (2024) directed by Jacques Audiard, The Shrouds (2024) directed by David Cronenberg, and Parthenope (2024) directed by Paolo Sorrentino.
In a decade of work, as the longest-serving creative head of the house since its founder, Anthony Vaccarello has demonstrated brilliant levels of consistency and dedication, leading the House into a singular direction, bringing back the essence of Saint Laurent. His cultural relevance culminated in the 2026 CFDA International Designer of the Year. Whether it may be rumoured moves to Alaïa, Balenciaga, Valentino, focusing on cinema, or dedicating himself to gardening — which sounds like a suitable option after decades in the industry for many — we can only wonder what Vaccarello will get himself into next.