The room was buzzing last night at the Yves Saint Laurent show as editors and celebrities crammed into the Palais de Tokyo by the Eiffel Tower. Of course Kanye West and his entourage were in attendance, but other stars such as Catherine Deneuve, Claudia Schiffer, Rachel Zoe and Nina Garcia made cameos as well, upping the wattage for the affair:
The collection began with a succession of garments in recession friendly neutrals like black, white, and gray. Sticking to clean, simple lines, Stefano Pilati reintrepretated work ready basics like the black skirt, white top, leather jacket, shift dress, and pinstripe suit–to dramatic effect:
Fashioned for the monied woman who yearns to update her classics, the collection was unquestionably lovely and full of solidly constructed skirts, jackets, and shifts. I especially loved the white blouses with exaggerated elements like plunging v necks, large billowing sleeves, and overstated collars:
Couldn’t you see yourself wearing one with your go to pencil skirt?
Pilati also offered new derivations of the signature YSL Le Smoking, refashioning jackets as dresses, vests, and high slit gowns:
Honestly, I could have lived without the glitter gowns and leather jumpers:
But as a girl who loves a classic look, I could see these pieces on anyone from a young professional to a seasoned executive in a fashionable field.
With YSL’s historical recognition of ethnic models, I was waiting for some color, and was excited to see stunner Chanel Iman in the lineup:
An exclamation point to the end of a solid sophisticated show! The final walk:
Apologies for the headshots in the video. I was standing! But I didn’t feel so bad, as I spied Rachel Zoe’s assistant Brad standing and snapping pix just like me! Standing is the new sitting (I kid).
What do you think of the collection?
*See more photos and read Sarah Mower’s review at style.com.
*Shout to Avon of Style101Magazine.com!
*Read more about Yves Saint Laurent in the Fashion Bomb’s tribute post.
While Yves Saint Laurent was supportive of black models, Stefano Pilati (Naomi-in-the-ads aside), is not (from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/26/AR2007052601337_pf.html ):
Pilati reflected the spirit of the house in his choice of models for the fall show. Saint Laurent was known for celebrating black models and in a season when they were especially absent on the runways, Pilati, at least, had one.
“In the ’70s, to have black models in Paris and Europe was sort of a message of having an open mind,” Pilati says. “We were definitely less used to races crossing lines. It was definitely something coming from America.”
Saint Laurent “was very sensitive to that. It was helping to add exoticism to the collection and to embrace the multicultural aspect of the work.”
Why aren’t there more black models working today? “To me, it is a matter of proportions and the bodies I choose. My fit model was a black model,” he says. “When I wanted to translate what I put on her, it was a disaster. It would need 13 times more work in the atelier to modify it to put on a more Caucasian anatomy.
“Sometimes, it’s not your choice. You can’t find [black models] that are beautiful and with the right proportions. I prefer them with lean proportions with no big hips.”