cathy horyn wrote an interesting article about the perils of being the head designer at yves saint laurent. mainly because mr. saint laurent is still living, and that pierre bergé, ysl’s business partner, makes it a habit of telling anyone and everyone of his designer’s genius. alber elbaz, now at lanvin, was the first to design for ysl, and was let go shortly after the gucci group’s purchase of the company. tom ford followed, and never gained the respect and admiration of the founders. current designer stefano pilati has had critical acclaim, but his last two shows were more about the show than the clothes. for fall, he went back to a stripped down presentation and, almost by default, presented a collection that was all about minimal elegance.
the looks included coccoon sleeve bubble coats, hooded sweaters, belted blazers worn with ankle length pants, skirts in signature pilati tulip or pencil silhouettes, popover tunics, cropped vests, dresses with volume at the top or the bottom in charcoal wool or hammered silver silk, textured croc collarless jackets, and gorgeous loose dresses with a large open back. for evening, he showed wonderful variations on “le smoking,” matte satin jumpsuits, tuxedos, and double breasted jacket dresses.
i also loved the pump with the triangular wooden heel and the flap bag with the muse locks on each side. guess i need to call my sa and get on the list…
pics from catwalking