Saint Laurent opened Paris Men’s Fashion Week circling “clinamen,” a sky-blue installation by Céleste Boursier-Mougenot. Porcelain bowls drifted and bumped along pool water like memories refusing to settle. The metaphor isn’t accidental: nothing here is declarative. Everything is personal. 

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Fanatics of Saint Laurent’s signature black and white dramatic suiting may harbor some disappointment. As silhouettes emerged—high, cinched waists, extended shoulders, floating silk, and suiting that traced, not statued—the color story followed. It split between a tart vibrancy—mustard, olive, plum, tomato, rust, and espresso—and a soft summer palette of sand, salt, coral, seafoam, and pool blue. Tailored shorts recalled those worn by young Yves Saint Laurent, not only as a reference, but a continuation.

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The collection nods to Yves in 1974, an era of significant change for the designer: “in 1974 [he] sought refuge [and withdrew], only to create anew.”

But Anthony Vaccarello is careful not to fall too deep into nostalgia. Sharp hues and curious details bring you back to the present: sunglasses get a pillowy, bubbled take on classic retro shapes, ties get tucked in to give the illusion of a neckerchief, and surprising fabrics like nylon take on billowy shirting. Trench coats, too, were styled unexpectedly—pushed back like a cape, tied like a bow.

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“Inspired by a time when […] beauty served as a shield against emptiness,” Vaccarello offers no nighttime allure, just honest daylight. It’s a departure from his previous moody, impassioned setups and collections. It asks us to dress to reveal as much as to conceal. “No artificial glow—just dry light. A deliberate rupture. Not to display—but to hold.”

Saint Laurent has reclaimed its place on the official menswear calendar. After seasons of desert runways and Roman backdrops, the return to Paris is an apt homecoming—sensuality without theatre, tribute without sentimentality. A breath held, then released.

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