Ain't Laurent without Yves

Saint Laurent AW13 via style.com

PFW was a week of many emotions for me. I speak with a heavy heart when I say I felt a certain lack of originality, with only a few shows really standing out in terms of innovative ideas (read: hair straps at Margiela, whatever was going on with the coats at Celine). Obviously the ‘no pants’ thing at Louis Vuitton was an idea I could get down with, who likes trousers anyway? But other than that, I felt the whole thing was a tad lackluster. Particularly Valentino, the collection looked like a remix of Carven and Miu Miu circa 2011. We won’t dwell on that one too much though, as I did like the slightly more playful atmosphere of the collection, which in itself is somewhat new to the design house.

But enough with the small talk, let’s talk Laurent. An air of confusion has surrounded the collection itself, and an air of disappointment has surrounded Hedi Slimane. I say this as a generalization, of course there were people who loved the collection. However, there was also a large group of people who felt it resembled a ZARA TRF campaign. I personally thought people’s dislike of the collection stemmed from something other than the trashy, edgy aesthetic, but rather the fact that people don't like to be shocked quite so abrasively.

When Slimane dropped the Yves, change was bound to occur. If he’d intended on staying 100% true to Yves then there would have been little point in changing the name, why rebrand a company when the company isn’t going to alter its direction? Our worries were laid at ease by the last collection, which presented the Laurent heritage but added some hypothetical Slimane swag. All in all it was success. The aesthetic was classy but retained a sense of modernity and edge. We’ve spent the last 5 months in bliss, lusting over the bags, shoes and general vibe from the show without any real anticipation of what his next show would bring. We were in the clear, Slimane wasn’t turning the house on its head and we could all exhale.

Well, we thought we could.

I’ve shown you my three favorite looks from the show, and I genuinely feel that had the whole collection maintained this kind of controlled grunge, it would have been one of my favorites. For me, parts of the collection felt lazy. It seems as though Slimane spent time on the looks like the ones above, really attempting to work his vision and Yves vision into each other and produce something that emulated the two of them. And then came the rest, which to me, seemed poorly put together. Of course, that’s subjective, but it irked me that the collection began to fall apart as it progressed. However I can't seem to shift the idea that my disappointment stems from the fact it didn't look like a Yves Saint Laurent show, and this unexpected turn of events put a lot of people on the ringers.

It struck me as odd that Slimane would do something so drastic in just his second season, but he probably did that for a reason. There have been a million ‘Ain’t Laurent without Yves’ t-shirts and hats and sweaters circulating the Internet and being purchased, because who doesn’t love a designer pun? In a way I feel this collection was Slimane’s response to that, essentially he was making the point that no, this wasn’t Yves Saint Laurent anymore. This, this is Saint Laurent. Perhaps his rebuttal was so unexpected, and that is why this collection has come under scrutiny. People who entered the show expected Yves but got Slimane, and they were not anticipating that. It was argued that the clothes no longer fit in with the target audience; chic, French and classy. Perhaps Slimane is rebranding the house so he can extend to a wider audience, and perhaps that is what we have an issue with. Either way, no real judgement can be passed until his next few collections have come and gone. Maybe this show was just a tool to help us move on from Yves and embrace the new direction the brand is taking. One question though, is inevitable, is he in fact bringing luxury down a couple notches in an attempt to make it more wearable? Whilst we may be disturbed by the idea now, how long until other designers follow suit? 

p.s I'd really appreciate it if you could vote for me as 'best teen blogger' at the Company blog awards here, and also check out my RayBan giveaway here!

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