The designer's second collection for the house was full of bold energy and youthful iconoclasm - but almost no handbags
Hedi Slimane has not forgotten how to shock the fashion world, after all. His debut collection last October as the designer of Saint Laurent failed to deliver the visceral, game-changing act of rebellion which the industry expected from this most mythic of contemporary fashion designers. Instead, his first Saint Laurent catwalk show was a something of a damp squib: a paean to the 1970s haute-groupie which was nostalgic and familiar, rather than agenda-setting or challenging.
On Monday night, Slimane delivered the punch that was expected of him – albeit a fashionable six months late.
Catherine Deneuve, iconic muse of Yves Saint Laurent, took pride of place on the front row; but on the catwalk, the muse was Courtney Love. The formula for almost every outfit in the show consisted of: very short dress, worn with oversized cover-up (tartan shirt, leather jacket, duffel coat) and fishnet tights over pale skinny legs. The models wore little makeup other than thick, artlessly applied black kohl. Upon reaching the end of the catwalk each scowled at the photographers and wheeled around on their flat boots without posing.
Yves Saint Laurent himself was a rebel within the fashion industry. For Slimane to alight upon an era in which YSL has no particular relevance is, therefore, perhaps in keeping with the spirit of the house. There was a bold energy and a youthful iconoclasm to this collection. These elements are essential for keeping the Saint Laurent spirit alight.
And yet the disconnect with the Saint Laurent customer seemed at times alarmingly wide. In California, where Slimane lives and to where he has moved the design studio, nineties grunge is a deeply felt part of everyday folklore; but in Paris, it is an abstract concept. And the grunge roleplay did not provide much in the way of roles for accessories. There were almost no handbags in this collection – this girl, with her unwashed hair and kohled eyes and fishnets, has no yen for an expensive handbag. Yet the YSL woman, surely, loves her handbag. This was a second act by Slimane which leaves the stage intriguingly poised for the next.