The Saint Laurent show is never subtle. Thousands of fans brave the cold to line the streets outside waiting for a fleeting moment of their fave celebrity, while, at the women’s show at least, the Eiffel Tower looms large in the near distance, its dramatic hourly sparkling moment heralding the runway kick-off is imminent. If you’re still stuck in the nightmarish traffic somewhere not too far away and spot that, you’d better get ready to run.

Anthony Vaccarello’s most recent show, for AW25, closed out this season’s Paris Fashion Week, and was even less demure. With Charli xcx, Chloë Sevigny, Austin Butler, Rosé, Zoë Kravitz, Linda Evangelista, Kate Moss, Pedro Pedro Almodóvar, Gaspar Noé and loads more famous friends and collaborators lining the front row, the designer sent out a collection that stuck two fingers up to ‘quiet luxury’ and cemented fashion’s return to glamour, excess and maximalism after a bunch of years in the grip of some pretty boring clothes.

First out of the gate were a series of looks that harked back to Saint Laurent’s output in the late 80s and early 90s, with models strutting down the catwalk in sleek blouses, boxy blazers, and ultra-mini dresses, all bearing the mega-wide shoulders that marked the era. Waists, meanwhile, were snatched, having been poured into slinky pencil skirts crafted from intricate lace or wipe-clean, see-through vinyl. The effect wasn’t close to the hourglass silhouette we’ve seen loads this season, though – instead Vacerello wants us to take up space in triangular shapes come autumn, like something out of a classic YSL boss bitch captured by Helmut Newton. 

The jewel-bright hues of fuchsia, emerald, ruby, and gold that made up most of the collection also chimed with the incoming age of ‘Boom Boom\’ fashion, which is largely all about an ostentatious display of wealth, last seen amidst the economic crashes of the 1980s. Originally predicted earlier this year by the man who also foresaw the rise of normcore back in 2013, Sean Monahan, the trend has come to life this season in the fur stoles, massive pearls, and move towards the feminine we’ve seen across offerings from Fendi, Miu Miu, Vaquera, and loads more. 

The final act of the show was more subtle, though, as Vaccarello turned his silhouette upside-down and sent out a series of showstopping looks comprising buttery leather bombers and big, sweeping ballgowns, in a palette of rich browns, nudes, and black. Combined with a Nina Simone soundtrack, the lyrics of which alluded to missing someone when they’re gone, plus Vaccarello’s untypically long walk down the runway to take a bow, got people whispering about whether this was his last Saint Laurent show – rumours have been swirling he might be heading to Gucci after all. Whatever the truth, and wherever he ends up, the designer clearly still has a lot of ideas in the arsenal, as the evolution of the house he’s steering, and its runaway success every season, keeps proving.

Click through the gallery above for a closer look.