The Liars single "Mr. You’re on Fire Mr." from their 2001 debut album They Threw Us All in a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top was the soundtrack for last night’s Saint Laurent show. A high-energy dance-punk release, the track came out while Hedi Slimane was having a heyday at Dior Homme, where he revolutionized menswear with his super-slim tailoring and rock-and-roll sensibility.
Since he started his tenure at Saint Laurent last year, it’s felt as though we’ve been transported back to that time: Slimane’s muse is still waifish, grungy, and very, very cool. That’s not to stay his clothes seem dated—but there has been a feeling of ’00s redux to his collections, and he doesn’t seem to be a part of a collective consciousness of trends (this season there’s been pleating, folk or embroidered details, flat shoes, and florals). Despite some poor reviews in the past, he has stayed true to his own influences.
While that can mean that we see some of the same themes each season, it doesn’t make the product any less alluring. The suiting is sharp—including the best jumpsuit I’ve seen in a long time—the dresses are fabulously flirty, and the leather skirts are racy (though few will be able to wear them). For spring exaggerated shoulders were a new focus, and the one-shoulder dresses and tops were almost the perfect mix of old school YSL and Slimane’s Saint Laurent.
