Saint Laurent: Blurring The Lines Between Menswear & Womenswear
Yes, couture fashion week and fashion month are just around the corner but first, it is menswear Paris fashion week, a fashion week that can often feel neglected by some, with many journalists and publications having an unsurprising preference for womenswear. Perhaps this was on the mind of Anthony Vaccarello while he designed the Saint Laurent FW23 collection shown in Paris this week.
Menswear FW23.
Saint Laurent.
Womenswear SS23.
Fillipo Fior.
Vaccarello sent out a collection that masterfully merged menswear and womenswear, gracefully showing gender expectations in fashion design out of the door. “I really want them to be almost one person”, he said, “So women could be the men, and the men could be the women. No difference. I want more and more to put them at the same level. No distinction.” and this was abundantly clear in the presentation. The precise tailoring, hooded silhouettes and perfectly cut trousers of his womenswear collections in the last year have bought him immense praise online from critics and enthusiasts alike, so it made sense to translate this recipe to menswear.
Created back in 1966, Yves Saint Laurent’s ‘Le Smoking’ tuxedo suit for women was one of the first of its kind to capture the gaze of the world and popular culture. By taking a classic menswear design and modifying the silhouette for the natural curves of the womanly shape he began a trend that has been at the core of Saint Laurent ever since. A blurring of the lines.
Long line, lengthening coats in wools and leathers made an appearance in the new menswear collection as they did in the Spring 2023 ready-to-wear one. After all, what is more gender-neutral than a supremely timeless coat? Blouses, whether elevated with a pussy bow or just one big massive bow across the decolletage, were a common thread in both showings with the menswear collection actually providing more.
With Paris Fashion Week only mere weeks away, it is yet to be seen how these menswear pieces will translate into the womenswear FW23 runway, but given Vaccarello’s words, it is sure to impress and subvert even further.
