Saint Laurent SS21 was about as socially-distanced as it’s possible to get

You might have thought we were basically done with big fashion moments for the year as we hurtle towards the holidays, but you’d be wrong. This week sees the likes of Givenchy, McQueen, and Bottega Veneta debut their new-season collections, alongside Anthony Vaccarello, who drops his SS21 womenswear collection for Saint Laurent today. Seriously: fashion never sleeps, not even in the year of our lord 2020.  

One thing the industry is sticking stringently to along with the rest of us, however, is social distancing. With IRL shows still off the cards for the most part, designers are cooking up new ways of getting their latest creations in front of us. In Vaccarello’s case, this meant whisking a bunch of models off to the desert for what could be the most isolated presentation of the year. Wearing looks from the new offering, his SS21 cast strut through the dunes in a series of stiletto-heeled shoes that surely weren’t made for the sand: somehow, however, they made it work. Overlooking proceedings was a huge YSL logo etched into the terrain, as part of what is probably the chicest sand art we’ve ever seen.

So what’s on the agenda from YSL next summer, clothes-wise? I’m glad you asked. Seemingly as done with slobbing in sweatpants as the rest of us are, Vaccarello set his sights on chic tailoring, pairing riffs on the house’s signature smoking jacket with tiny mini skirts and chic waistcoats, while lacy knickers and slick cycling shorts – no, we’re not done with them yet – were finished with sexy see-through blouses that billowed as the models walked. “I wanted to focus on the essence of things, but I didn’t want anything bleak or heavy,” he explained of the collection. “The desert, to me, symbolises that yearn for serenity, open space, a slower rhythm. The clothes are also softer, the spirit of the collection is more gentle, stripped back.”

Finishing touches included sheer polka-dot tights, marabou feather trims on cuffs and collars, jewellery by legendary collaborator Claude Lalanne, a series of flower corsages that Carrie Bradshaw would be all over, and more than a few mullets, which we obvs j’adored. Check the whole thing out in the gallery above, and watch the show below.