Saint Laurent opened Paris Men’s Fashion Week this afternoon with a collection that reinforced Anthony Vaccarello’s commitment to a specific masculine archetype: lean, nocturnal, and dressed in clothes that follow the body without clinging to it. The show, held at a location in the seventh arrondissement, drew a front row that included actors from the Cannes circuit and musicians currently touring the festival season.
The opening-day slot carries symbolic weight. As the first major show of Paris Men’s Week, Saint Laurent’s collection sets a tone that permeates the subsequent five days. Vaccarello’s restrained but deeply resolved offering suggests a season in which precision of cut and quality of materials will matter more than novelty of concept.
The collection’s tonal palette moved through charcoal, sand, and deep bottle green — colours that read as neutral from a distance but revealed their complexity on close inspection. A double-faced wool coat showed a charcoal exterior that opened to reveal a silk lining printed with a photographic landscape. The gesture echoed the house’s prêt-à-porter tradition of hiding sensuality inside structure.
Leather remained the collection’s organising material. A calfskin blouson with matte finish read as an elevated take on the biker jacket. Below-the-knee boots in smooth leather anchored the silhouette, replacing sneakers as this season’s defining Saint Laurent men’s footwear proposition. The collection included no obvious logo treatments, relying instead on cut, drape, and material confidence to communicate the house’s codes.
