Fire Island, the vacation vacation spot close to New York, has been related to the LGBTQ+ group because the thirties. It has impressed books (Edmund White’s 1973 novel, Forgetting Elena), a 2022 eponymous romcom and now, a style present for Saint Laurent.
Happening at Paris fashion week in 30 diploma warmth extra suited to a trip, the present notes named the seashore spot as a reference for the artistic director, Anthony Vaccarello. They positioned the present “someplace between Paris and Fireplace Island, the place escape turns into magnificence, and want turns into a language”.
The gathering began with this temper: the primary look was a pair of quick shorts worn with a silk shirt and sun shades. There’s little doubt this form can be on pattern for males subsequent 12 months, with Prada also showing it in their show in Milan last week.
However in addition to beach-ready gadgets, the element of shorts discovered their method on to the waistband of tailoring and pastel colors splendid for summer season. There was quite a lot of workwear too, however reasonably than the extra relaxed type present in most places of work in 2025, these designs dedicated to the identical excessive eighties power-dressing shoulders seen in Vaccarello’s hit womenswear assortment proven earlier this 12 months.
Striped shirts and ties, trenchcoats and fits had been included, typically within the jewel tones related to the model. Each mannequin wore sun shades. In addition to complementing the vacation really feel and the climate outdoors, there was additionally a industrial angle: these are the entry-level designs prospects should purchase earlier than they’ll afford a swimsuit.
The present happened within the grand Bourse de Commerce, an ex-stock trade the place the artwork assortment of François Pinault – the unique proprietor of Saint Laurent’s mum or dad firm, Kering – has been housed since 2021. The fashions walked round an set up known as Clinamen by Céleste Boursier-Mougenot, which resembled the sort of swimming pool discovered on holidays.
Though the textual content clarified that the gathering was not nostalgic – “not homage. Not reminiscence. Continuity” – it was coupled with a picture of a younger Yves Saint Laurent carrying quick shorts on a tennis court docket in Oran in Algeria, taken round 1950, when the designer was a young person. It additionally namechecked artists Stanton, Angus and Ellis – presumably Larry Stanton, Patrick Angus and Darrel Ellis – all of whom documented LGBTQ+ life within the seventies and eighties, with Stanton a daily on Fireplace Island.
after publication promotion
If this assortment had a refined tribute to a time and place, Vaccarello’s Saint Laurent additionally excels on the sort of splashy moments that gasoline the web, and hold a model within the style dialog in 2025. This month alone, 82-year-old Christopher Walken appeared of their promoting marketing campaign – a intelligent transfer at a time when older legends are appreciated in style – and Rihanna, perpetually influential for her model, was noticed carrying the model’s garments. The thigh-high patent waders that had been within the January males’s exhibits have additionally induced one thing of a sensation – with each Pedro Pascal and designer Marc Jacobs carrying them lately.
Even with this profile, the model – like many luxurious manufacturers – is seeing a decline in gross sales. A report of financial results across the Kering group for the primary quarter of 2025 exhibits income was down 9%. This determine places it in the midst of its stablemates, with Gucci’s income down 25% and Bottega Veneta’s income up by 4%. Kering introduced Luca de Meo as the brand new CEO this month, and the person now charged with bettering model performances. Unusually for style, de Meo’s expertise is from a distinct sector – he was beforehand CEO of Renault automobiles. Nevertheless, the business appears to approve of the appointment. Within the run-up to the announcement, the group’s inventory rose by 13%.