It certainly looked and felt like a fond farewell at Saint Laurent. Exactly ten years and two days since his triumphant 2016 debut for the storied French fashion house, designer Anthony Vaccarello took what appeared to be his final bow at the helm of the Kering-owned brand, leaving a glittering, unforgettable impression on the Paris fashion calendar.
From the moment guests began filtering into the venue, all the unmistakable signs pointed toward the conclusion of a remarkable chapter. The atmospheric soundtrack setting the mood before the show was Miles Davis’s haunting score for Louis Malle’s seminal debut film, the meaningfully titled Elevator to the Gallows. Further fueling the palpable sense of finality, a series of cinematic stills from the short movie had been utilized as cryptic Instagram promotional materials leading up to the grand event.
Accompanying the physical invitations sent to guests, Vaccarello included a bouquet of black calla lilies alongside a personal note explaining his decision to bypass the customary post-show press interviews. In the heartfelt message, the designer wrote that he had held the collection in his mind for a long time before finally feeling that the moment was right to bring it to the light. He described the offering as deeply personal and heavily charged with emotion, explaining that he preferred to step back and let the audience experience all of its distinct shades without too much verbal preamble, signing off simply with, "With Love, Anthony."
The emotional weight of the evening reached its zenith at the very end of the presentation, punctuated by a surprise, poignant musical performance by longtime Vaccarello loyalist and muse Charlotte Gainsbourg. As the audience processed the striking final looks, the chorus of the song repeated a resonant and evocative tribute: "You are so much, Yves Saint Laurent."
If this indeed marked the adieu of one of contemporary fashion’s most steadfast visionaries, it was a departure brilliantly orchestrated to be equal parts deeply indebted to the house’s legendary founder and entirely consistent with Vaccarello’s own unfaltering design rigor. The collection unfurled in a magnificent array of many shades of gold, building deliberately toward a dramatic finale composed entirely of black. This striking sequence served as a clever, inverted homage to Yves Saint Laurent’s famous fall 1991 Rive Gauche collection, the finale of which had conversely been presented entirely in gold.
Show notes provided a direct link to the house’s rich history by referencing a long-ago quote from Yves Saint Laurent himself: "It’s a magical color, when reflecting a woman, it’s the color of the sun." Internet sleuths and fashion historians quickly uncovered even more illuminating gems from the founder’s archives, including the declaration that gold is "today’s black," as well as Saint Laurent’s personal philosophy that "an evening should glow; otherwise it’s a bit absurd."
This particular evening most certainly glowed. The iconic Eiffel Tower provided its own synchronized backdrop, twinkling not just on schedule as it reliably does at the top of the hour, but illuminating the Paris skyline once again right as the show commenced and precisely as it concluded. Inside the venue, a trio of massive, candlelit chandeliers cast long, dramatic shadows across the mirror-like, glossy black surface of the runway, intensifying the theatrical atmosphere.
Naturally, the garments themselves generated their own spectacular aura. The collection featured a breathtaking procession of looks dominated by gold, including sahariennes and trench coats crafted from crackly cotton métallisée and toile froissée, as the lavishly detailed run of show explained. These heritage silhouettes were paired with flowing mousseline scarves rendered in deep, rich shades of absinthe, amber, and cognac, providing an added layer of dramatic, flowing flourish.
The aesthetic breadth of the lineup showcased Vaccarello’s uncompromising eye for detail. There were cocktail dresses constructed from what appeared to be intricate metal thread lace, alongside little cropped jackets and sharply tailored trousers fashioned from opulent gilt brocades. True to his signature styling philosophy, Vaccarello made it abundantly clear that he still fiercely believes in the power of big earrings and exceptionally high stilettos. Among the standout footwear options was a shoe style featuring striking, sculptural s-shaped snakes winding upward for heels. In a notable stylistic departure that underscored the uncompromising nature of the presentation, this marked what was likely the only show in Paris—and perhaps across the entire fashion season—to deliberately omit a single handbag from the runway.
As the fashion community begins to contemplate a potential succession, the moments following the show naturally turned toward taking stock of Vaccarello’s profound impact on the brand over the past decade. The designer is widely recognized across the industry as an individual who is as strong-willed as he is soft-spoken—a rare creative force resolutely unwilling to bend to fleeting digital trends or compromise his vision for commercial expedience. He has remained equally firm in his public disregard for the broader democratization of fashion, a trend that has dominated much of the industry’s narrative in recent seasons and one that he has frequently critiqued as a dilution of true luxury.
Vaccarello has never shied away from voicing his disdain for what he perceives as the watering down of high fashion. In a candid interview with Vogue last year, he articulated his philosophy without reservation, noting that the industry spent years convincing the public that luxury fashion is meant for everyone and that anyone should be able to purchase a basic piece of clothing or an accessible bag from a major heritage house. He expressed his hope that the industry would eventually find its way back to an old-school approach to treating luxury, warning that the mass-market push ultimately undermines the very core idea of fashion itself.
Whether those traditional days of exclusive, uncompromised luxury will ever truly return to the mainstream remains to be seen, but for an unforgettable hour in Paris, Anthony Vaccarello proved that nothing gold can stay.
