Yves Saint Laurent: 2011 Spring Ready to Wear

Posted on October 5, 2010

A retrospective of the great Yves Saint Laurent's work has been showing in Paris, and nearly every other designer at Paris and Milan Fashion Weeks has included an homage to him (trench coats, jumpsuits, safari jackets and peasant tops were everywhere). So what would Stefano Pilati do for the real deal: the Yves Saint Laurent spring 2011 ready to wear show? He took the original DNA of the couture house and brought it forward in time with delicate modern touches and sleek minimalism.

The show opened with a classic white trench coat with a black silk shirt underneath with a large bow tied at the neck. The trench coat was well-represented in gorgeous cobalt blue and a traditional tan coat that was sleeveless (the sleeveless trench is going to be everywhere in stores for spring, but it remains to be seen whether women really will find them functional or not).

The peasant blouse was represented in flirty, bold day dresses and in the ruffled trim on several garments. Separates were well-represented, and were mostly done in crisp black and white. There was a nod to the prevailing orange hue for spring, with bold, flowing tangerine silk shirts and in a ruffled day dress. The classic YSL jumpsuit was the best version we've seen on the runways yet (and they are everywhere). Somehow Pilati has streamlined the silk jumpsuit and made the lines especially elegant, with draped halter tops and perfectly cut pants. The sleek elegance was compelling.

For evening, there were sleek, elegant gowns in black and in cobalt. The makeup was quite interesting. The eyebrows were erased and the lips were glossy, defined scarlet. Their hair was slicked back in a center part and coiled into a tight roll on the back of the head. It was very chic, although not an easy look to pull off. The strappy gold sandals were gorgeous, classic YSL.




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