Creative Director Anthony Vaccarello’s Saint Laurent Fall 2019 RTW collection explored several eras or moments of the Maison’s legacy with string tailoring and a focus on the shoulders.

A broad-shouldered, ivory wool coat modeled by a 21st-century doppelgänger of the YSL muse Betty Catroux, was complete with signature sideswept peroxide mane and black shades. In a preview, Vaccarello said he spent six months getting the proportions right. “The show pieces are all done by hand,” he explained. “We’ll have to figure out how to perfect it [in the factory].”

The designer’s other subjects this season were YSL’s Opium moment and the haute couture “Scandal” collection of Spring 1971. The former produced all manner of lavishly worked beaded evening jackets, worn with micro-shorts, Swiss-dot stockings, and knee boots for a modern vibe. The latter was Vaccarello’s Pop reinterpretation of Saint Laurent’s own revisionist take on World War II–era clothing, which was critically panned at the time but went on to become influential in the street. This section of the show was harder to see, with the models walking behind a wall of glass, in black light, with a Yayoi Kusama Infinity Room mirror situation behind them.

Get backstage access to the fun, fresh and fabulous Saint Laurent Fall 2019 RTW runway show in Paris.