Anthony Vaccarello did not approach his tenth anniversary at Saint Laurent quietly.
For Spring 2027, the designer transformed one of the house’s most recognizable colors into the foundation of an entire collection. Gold appeared across tailoring, outerwear, dresses, skirts and accessories, creating a runway that felt both celebratory and deeply connected to Yves Saint Laurent’s history.
Presented in Paris beneath enormous chandeliers with the Eiffel Tower glowing nearby, the collection opened with metallic gold separates and quickly established its direction. Safari-inspired jackets, pencil skirts, trenches and sharply structured dresses arrived in changing shades and textures of gold.
The color was more than decoration.
Yves Saint Laurent famously embraced gold throughout his career, using it in clothing, jewelry and accessories. Vaccarello returned to that history while filtering it through the sharp, sensual wardrobe he has developed during his decade at the house.
GOLD, TEXTURE AND POWER
Rather than relying on one metallic finish, Saint Laurent explored how differently gold can behave.
Lamé created liquid shine. Brocade brought density and richness. Lace added transparency, while crinkled and coated surfaces reflected the runway lights in constantly changing ways.
The silhouettes remained unmistakably Saint Laurent.
Shoulders were exaggerated. Waists stayed defined. Pencil skirts created long, narrow lines, while scarves, oversized earrings and sculptural details pushed the looks further into evening glamour. There were also familiar references to the house’s safari jackets, smoking-inspired tailoring and dramatic dresses.
Yet the collection never felt like a simple archive exercise. Vaccarello has spent ten years building his own visual language at Saint Laurent, and Spring 2027 brought many of those ideas together in one concentrated statement.
THEN CAME BLACK
After an extended procession of gold, the mood changed. The final looks moved into black, introducing broad-shouldered jackets, velvet and sweeping evening gowns. Against the brilliance that came before them, the darker pieces felt especially dramatic.
Charlotte Gainsbourg appeared during the finale for a live performance, bringing another familiar figure from Vaccarello’s Saint Laurent world into the evening.
The moment helped turn a fashion show into something more reflective.
Spring 2027 arrives almost exactly ten years after Vaccarello debuted at Saint Laurent in 2016, and several fashion publications interpreted the presentation as having the atmosphere of a possible farewell. As of the show, however, Saint Laurent and parent company Kering had not formally confirmed his departure.
What is certain is that Vaccarello used the anniversary to concentrate many of the ideas that have defined his Saint Laurent era: commanding shoulders, severe tailoring, sensual eveningwear, cinematic staging and an unwavering belief in glamour.
For one night in Paris, he simply covered all of it in gold.