The Saint Laurent Winter 2024 runway show was a departure from its Summer 2024 one, but only conceptually. Saint Laurent doesn’t shy away from the duality of the male spirit. It’s apparent in the House’s throng of global famous faces adopted into its fold—from rock legend Lenny Kravitz to younger upstarts the likes of Austin Butler and Ten Lee of NCT U—who all, while exuding an air of elegance, are more than stereotypical masculine tropes.
Creative director Anthony Vaccarello has been reiterating Saint Laurent’s masculine-feminine tension for a few seasons now. While typically shown during different fashion week calendars, the womenswear and menswear collections have effectively been mirror images of each other. There’s been a consistency in aesthetic where Vaccarello would borrow womenswear silhouettes and fabrications for menswear, while the latter’s cut would dictate the form of the womenswear collections.
For Winter 2024, the menswear show was somewhat of a surprise. Instead of showing during January’s Paris Fashion Week Men’s or completely off schedule (like Summer 2024’s in Berlin), the Saint Laurent Winter 2024 show was about a week apart from the womenswear show—further blurring the lines between the two. But the actual surprise was the collection itself. After seasons of embodying a softer side of the Saint Laurent man, Vaccarello opted to switch things up at Paris’ Bourse de Commerce.
Right from the first look, there was little doubt that the collection wouldn’t be following a similar formula of collections prior. It was classic, almost too classic, veering on old-school. A grey double-breasted suit paired with a white shirt and (gasp!) a striped tie of significant width.
There was a decidedly ’80s feel to the entire ensemble but perhaps only on first glance. The wide, peak lapels of the blazer were matched in intensity with the shirt collar. Yet there were nuances of contemporary flair: the overall silhouette was still very languid and soft with a strong-shoulder anchor; the blazer was cut straight with a deliciously roomy give; and while still respecting the traditional rule of a peek of shirt cuff under the blazer, sleeves were lengthened just enough to strike away any old-school notion.