Saint Laurent Men’s Fall 2025: Desk-to-dungeon Dressing, Anyone?
In the vein of those “impossible conversation” books and exhibitions, designer Anthony Vaccarello asked himself: What if Yves Saint Laurent met Robert Mapplethorpe? (A 1983 YSL men’s campaign featuring the American photographer sparked the idea.)
Vaccarello was unable to verify any encounter between the two men, but he plowed ahead and imagined they had one to create his fall 2025 Saint Laurent menswear collection, which hinged on handsome, double-breasted tailoring and dollops of subversion, including black leather thigh boots for every model, even those already wearing leather pants.
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What to make of these corporate types who shrug on a meaty leather blouson or subliminally sinister leather trenchcoat? Dare we call it desk-to-dungeon dressing?
Vaccarello returned to the grand, domed hall at the Bourse de Commerce art museum, laying out a vast, polished Versailles parquet floor and plopping down five monumental chandeliers as a centerpiece. Models did a quick circuit around the room — lit like a seedy cocktail bar, not a stock exchange — which didn’t make it easy to discern all the finesse and details Vaccarello mentioned backstage before the show.
The designer described dry, masculine fabrics like wool and tweed, a pronounced but not exaggerated shoulder line, and — as a nod to the show’s timing during couture week — evening coats festooned with cock feathers.
His mood board took in a tight sweep of YSL in the ’80s, from that Mapplethorpe-fronted ad to one of the French fashion legend’s tartan ensembles.
Asked what Saint Laurent and Mapplethorpe had in common, Vaccarello described both men as masterful image-makers, where everything is studied and “nothing is left to chance. It’s very staged.”
“There is a slightly dangerous side to Mapplethorpe that we can also find in Yves Saint Laurent,” the designer said.
By now we should be accustomed to Vaccarello’s penchant for hammering away at a singular silhouette and message — here a double-breasted suit with oomph, and a meaty leather coat that’s borderline louche. It didn’t make for an exciting fashion show, but at least it wasn’t a chore to unravel.
“A rather classic man, so always in a suit and tie. It’s something that I still want to continue to pursue at Saint Laurent,” he said.
Launch Gallery: Saint Laurent Men's Spring 2025 Collection
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