DAZED FOR SAINT LAURENT

In June this year, Anthony Vaccarello debuted a 70s-inspired collection against the backdrop of Manhattan’s skyline for his first standalone Saint Laurent menswear show. Inspired in part by the legendary looks of NYC’s infamous Studio 54, the clothes mixed retro styling (suede jackets, paisley patterns, and YSL’s iconic Safari lace-up detailing) with a modern edge – not forgetting the series of models painted disco-ball silver.

Now, a new film marries the SS19 collection with the city once again. Directed by Jordan Hemingway in collaboration with Dazed, the short film is titled Grindhouse, a nod to the now-lost cinemas of New York. Particularly prominent around Times Square in the 70s, the grindhouses was a cheaper and smaller alternative to the commercial theatre room, showing an array of underground, exploitation, and low budget movies day and night, in back-to-back succession. 

Hemingway’s take on follows three models reimagined as midnight cowboys on a blurry and fragmented night out in New York City, flashing between jazz bars, taxi cabs, and vibrant funfairs while a dreamy voiceover narrates. It captures “the fun, vivid spiral of a night on acid,” Hemingway tells us. “Lines are blurred.”

“Childhood memories are so exaggerated and extreme, almost like a dream; I wanted to take this feeling and modernise it,”  Hemingway explains. “I grew up under the cymbal of my father’s drum set in the 90s and I have a very fond memory of what New York looked like to me during that time.”

Hemingway’s urban cowboys stand boldly out in each of the scenes, dressed in Saint Laurent’s SS19 menswear collection – think skinny, high-waisted trousers, snakeskin jackets, and sharp leather jackets – and lounging on subway rides in between.