Inside Saint Laurent's Fall 2024 RTW: Anthony Vaccarello's Sheer Transparency

The media has made YSL’s designs about resilience. What if that is simply not the story? 

Saint Laurent Fall 2024 Ready-to-Wear Collection

Anthony Vaccarello's Saint Laurent Fall 2024 Ready-to-Wear presentation revealed the body and the person in their most stripped-down form— in sheer transparency. While one might expect such a display to convey vulnerability, it suggested something far more defiant.

At the core of the collection was a striking contrast between flexibility and fragility. Nearly the entire lineup was crafted from stocking fabric—material that stretches and adjusts, but also rips apart. In an era oversaturated with reality, Vaccarello doubled down on fantasy, describing his collection as ephemeral, almost elusive in its nature.

There’s an undeniable allure in presenting oneself with little to conceal or hide behind. For Yves Saint Laurent, this has always been central to his vision of seduction on the move. The Saint Laurent woman is never a static object of desire; rather, she is the embodiment of desire itself, pushed to extremes, controlling her assets like a weapon.

It is a subject that invites discussion, yet somehow ends up stirring controversy- the female body, or the idea of it. In fact, that’s pretty much all it ever does. Everyone has their two cents, trying to morph it into something deeper than flesh and bones. We want the body to represent an idea, a function, a foundation. What we cannot—and will not—do is simply let it be.

The female body will never just be perceived as an expression of nature. The investment in it is far too grand. Yet, for the sake of this specific conversation, we might benefit from a more romantic approach—one that understands the act of showcasing certain assets not as an invitation for interpretation, but for admiration.