Saint Laurent.
If you ever find yourself struck by the sudden urge to turn everything you own into solid gold, you can now blame Anthony Vaccarello. Marking a decade at the helm of Saint Laurent, the designer has seemingly contracted a severe case of the Midas touch, transforming the Maison’s Spring/Summer 2027 ready-to-wear collection into an alchemical study of light, texture and one particularly mythical colour. Across the Paris runway, gold appeared in almost every conceivable guise, building on Monsieur Saint Laurent’s own affection for the shade, which he once described as “the colour of the sun.”
Vaccarello took that fascination considerably further for SS27, moving between pale and matte gold, burnished tones, Byzantine references and shades with an almost Brutalist quality. Under a canopy of golden chandeliers, the colour seeped into the clothes through a lavish mix of surfaces and materials. Lamé, organza, guipure lace, mousseline, brocade, jacquard and metallic cotton each caught the light differently, while latex coated in gold leaf pushed the idea towards something altogether more molten. Sahariennes, trenches, blouses and wrap skirts drawn from the Saint Laurent archive appeared alongside Vaccarello’s broad-shouldered coats, voluminous blousons and tightly cut tailoring, with swathes of fur adding another layer of texture.
Saint Laurent.
Saint Laurent.
Accessories received their own gilded treatment, from oversized jewelled filigree earrings to footwear constructed from metallic chains wrapped around twisting snake heels. The extravagance was substantial, but it remained tethered to the familiar codes of Saint Laurent, with even the most ornate pieces retaining the house’s characteristic sense of seduction and precision.
After a parade of gold, the closing looks appeared almost startlingly black, with velvet tailoring giving way to a series of expansive evening dresses in organza and other flowing fabrics. The contrast gave the finale an almost nocturnal quality, absorbing the light that had dominated the first part of the show. “Nothing radiates and reflects light like gold,” Vaccarello writes, before describing his attraction to the colour’s ability to transform everything around it. “What passes sometimes leaves more light than what remains.”
Saint Laurent.
Saint Laurent.
That line has taken on added significance after the show, with widespread speculation that SS27 could mark the end of Vaccarello’s Saint Laurent tenure. The house has not announced a departure, however, leaving the black finale to speak for itself — should anyone choose to read it that way, of course.
Discover the Spring/Summer 2027 collection here.
photography. courtesy of Saint Laurent
words. Gennaro Costanzo
