paris - yves saint laurent - fall/winter 2008

YVES SAINT LAURENT
stefano pilati has proven again and again that he is the right man to helm the legendary house of yves saint laurent. his interpretation of the saint laurent woman by referencing the master's old ideas and modernizing it has made him one of the most influential designers today. this season, when the prevailing mood is that of resereved austerity, pilati unleashed a directional collection that was right on the mark and one that will continue to assert his influence in the fashion world. this season he concentrated on cut and silhouette, omitting distractions that will detract focus from the construction of the garment. the colour palette stayed within neutral territory only sometimes being interrupted by a shock of electric blue. a progression from his last spring collection, the bottom silhouette stayed pretty much the same. a sort of carrot cut that had a higher waist line with a generous cut that loosely tappered down the ankle. the dramatic effect of these pants was exaggerated by sharply tailored jackets with an overlapping closure that created a criss-cross line. the balance achieved by showing something constructed at the top to contrast the volume at the bottom. every time pilati shows a strong collection, it always feels like he's been building up to it. this was no exception. by perfecting the ideas he proposed last spring, he inadvertently presented a collection that was the perfect statement to the general mood of the collections. the hyper femininity of those pin-tucked satin dresses from spring was replaced by geometrically cut silk shantung or tweed dresses with panelling to give the illusion of a leaner silhouette. most surprising of all was that he managed to accomplish this without the obvious saint laurent references and still maintain the saint laurent essence in the clothes. the feminine frivolity of his eary collections like the ruffles was basically excluded this time around, save for a knockout ice blue jacket with a little ruching on the lapel that almost looked like a half ruffle. this was one of pilati's strongest and most confident collection for saint laurent. a twenty first century take on nineties minimalism, designed for a stronger more assertive woman. just as saint laurent rewrote the dress code for the women in his time, pilati, his humble succesor, is on his way to end up doing the exact same thing.


photo: style.com