Power and elegance, that’s what Anthony Vaccarello was thinking of when he designed the autumn-winter 23/24 collection of yves st laurent. Yesterday the firm’s new proposal on what we will take at the end of this year was presented, with a vision that establishes women in positions of power in the business world unafraid to express her femininity.
Yesterday, the ‘maison’ paid homage to its past by presenting one tailored suit after another, one of those that caused controversy in the 1960s when a columnist (man) for the magazine Life lamented in the first pages that the pant suits of Yves Saint Laurent were contributing to the “destruction” of gender norms.
This set, although today it seems very normal (and even somewhat outdated depending on what works), was the subject of political discussion and a symbol of feminism throughout the 20th century. It wasn’t until the 1980s that we saw a woman connected to power (Pat Nixon) in a suit. However, it was not until 1993 that the United States Senate, allow a woman to wear pants within the institution.
Honoring its history, Vaccarello has resorted to the designs of the 80s to bring us to a empowered, free woman and very sure of herself, with two pieces in which the protagonists are the shoulder pads and the very pronounced necklines.
Although pants are the firm’s historical garment par excellence, Vaccarello wanted to focus more on the skirt with a perfectly controlled vision of tailoring, inspired by the classic ‘tailleur jupe’ of YSL (or skirt suit, for you and me) evoked from menswear fabrics, just as Saint Laurent himself liked to do in his day.
Anthony’s look rested on a jacket with oversized shoulder pads, cut in the classic design of a men’s suit or ‘tuxedo’. We also found velvet jackets over fitted skirts that ended just above the knee, a new length for the designer.
The skirts were worn with sleeveless tops as simple as cotton T-shirts, patent leather slingback heels, heavy gold bangles, and aviator sunglasses. Sometimes the skirt was changed to cashmere leggings and the jacket was softened by chiffon blouses with XXL bows that fell on the shoulders, completely transparent shirtst-shirts with extra large necklines or a shawl covered and fastened with more mega jewels in the form of a gold brooch.
In the collection we see several of the trends that have been accompanying us in recent fashion weeks in Milan, Madrid, London and New York: the ‘braless’ and ‘free the nipple’, with garments that give the chest complete freedom without oppressing it, saying goodbye to the inconvenience caused by the bra throughout the day.
No matter how our chest is (higher, lower, bigger or smaller), fashion invites us to get rid of complexes who have been accompanying us for years, making it clear that security and self-esteem are sexy.
As for design, the outfits and exaggerated shapes of the 80s are back, with blazers with very marked and wide shoulder pads along with pencil skirts that, instead of looking for an hourglass figure, opt for the inverted trianglea much more dominant silhouette.
In tissues, the satin dominated the catwalk in almost all kinds of garments, from the most basic strapless ones to sophisticated blouses or skirts, although tulle and leather were also present. The prints were dominated by English-inspired checks (such as tartan and Prince of Wales) and the diplomatic stripe, while the colors that starred in the parade were mainly black and white.
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