Particularly revered designers are often referred to as having a “Midas touch.” In his final collection for Saint Laurent, rounding off a decade as the brand’s longest-serving creative director since Yves himself, Anthony Vaccarello took that compliment literally. Staged beneath the Eiffel Tower, Vaccarello’s glamorous, elegant, and intelligent Summer 2027 collection proved that, for once, all that glitters really is gold.
In a crowded landscape where collections often feel fragmented, designed to cater to online microtrends and rampant consumerism, Vaccarello’s sharp focus on a single color feels audacious and refreshing. The clothes are undeniably captivating. Gold has always had a unique ability to bewitch us, despite the fact that it objectively shouldn’t be considered a particularly valuable material. In its purest form, it’s too soft to be used for everyday jewelry, much less anything useful. Despite this, gold is so valuable that it has inspired dozens of mostly ill-fated gold rushes throughout history. It is only relatively recently that the gold standard no longer controls the world’s economy, and it remains one of the safest commodities to invest in. Gold, after all, has always been the color of the gods, from Ancient Egypt’s Ra to 17th-century France’s Louis XIV.
On the other hand, gold is a loaded idea. In the wrong doses, the metal is often considered tacky—remember Carrie Bradshaw’s horror at being presented with a gold engagement ring by love interest Aidan Shaw in Season 4 of Sex and the City? Remember, in the same episode, how gold jewelry was described as "ghetto"? While the color is often perceived as regal and elegant on the wealthy and white, it has just as often been derided as the opposite on those who are neither. In many cultures, gold is gifted to young women, particularly brides, not only to adorn them but also to function as an insurance policy. If a wife lacks meaningful financial independence, gold may be the only way to ensure that she can leave a marriage that has gone south.
In choosing to focus on gold, therefore, Vaccarello takes on a legacy even more storied and complex than that of the Saint Laurent brand itself. Throughout the collection, he plays with shades, silhouettes, and light in a way that fully explores the color’s complex nuances and provides an extraordinarily refreshing take on the brand’s iconic heritage. The first few looks, for example, showcase gold in all of its reflective, bordering-on-tacky, glory.
The show opens with an oversized trench coat in a warm, flat hue of very shiny gold, featuring layers of popped collars and accessorized by a green, gauzy scarf trailing on the ground. This is gold-gold, the shade that first comes to mind when thinking of the color. The next few looks are similarly unapologetically wide-shouldered and reflective, calling to mind the opulence and excess of the 1980s. This punchy, audacious start to the collection feels like a natural continuation of the brand’s notorious rebellious streak—in its audacity, it is reminiscent of Mr. Saint Laurent’s iconically scandalous Haute Couture Spring/Summer 1971 collection.
At times, Vaccarello’s gold leans bronzed and Byzantine, such as in look eight. This look is also an example of the collection’s refreshingly relaxed take on Saint Laurent’s iconic, androgynous tailoring. The jacket’s sharp, wide shoulders and utility-inspired pockets contrast beautifully with its soft, billowing arms, as well as with the romantic brown scarf accessorizing the look. This contrast creates the tension between the masculine and the feminine that is so emblematic of Saint Laurent.
The collection builds progressively on itself, starting with gold and Saint Laurent tailoring in their most iconic forms before beginning to play with patterns toward the middle of the show. Look twenty-eight, for example, sees fine, metallic gold material manipulated to create a trompe-l’oeil snakeskin-like effect. The next look, a sharply tailored coat dress, sees gold interpreted in cheetah form. Combined with a cinched waist and utility pockets, look twenty-nine and its derivatives are clearly a nod to Mr. Saint Laurent’s famous 1968 Safari collection.
After introducing print, Vaccarello starts entertaining texture, simultaneously slimming down the silhouettes, undoubtedly a subtle ode to Le Smoking of 1966. Particularly fantastic is look thirty-nine, a short sheath dress of gold brocade, trimmed with brown fur on the cuffs. Not only is the look a testament to Vaccarello’s deep knowledge of the brand’s legacy, but it is also an excellent example of his willingness to mix and match. The fur trimming, for example, is reminiscent of Mr. Saint Laurent’s last collection for Dior, Chicago, in 1961. The dress’s razor-sharp shoulders and covered top button, on the other hand, feel distinctly tuxedo-inspired, while the mod silhouette clearly references the shape of Mr. Saint Laurent’s 1965 Mondrian Dress.
The collection closes with a series of dramatic black evening gowns, where gold is allowed to shine in its most typical format—that is, as an accessory. Vaccarello alternates two different iterations of the (not-so-little) black dress, the first playing with deliciously ’80s silhouettes in black velvet; the second paying tribute to Mr. Saint Laurent’s 1968 homage to the sexual revolution through the medium of sheer, boundary-defying dresses.
Look fifty, for example, references the iconic pussy-bow blouse, placing an oversized bow at the waist and creating an unexpected and contemporary effect. The show closes with look fifty-nine, a dramatic floor-length ballgown of black gauze, wrapped at the neck in a manner that evokes ’60s film-star glamour whilst remaining undoubtedly modern.
