After spring’s flower-covered runway, there was a sense that Stefano Pilati would tone down the mood at the house of YSL. And that’s exactly what he did.
Compared to recent YSL offerings, Fall/Winter 2007 was a reserved, and decidedly Yves-inspired, collection. Don’t get me wrong, there was still that inherent sense of drama - the python hoods peaking from beneath a shrouding cape coat, the cropped Le Smokings with contrasting lapels - but there was also an easiness that we haven’t seen before. It seems to be a conscious effort on Pilati’s part to rediscover the essence of who the YSL woman is. After spring’s injury-friendly runway, he admitted, “These women were fragile looking, and it’s not the woman I want! They’re wobbling!
These were not clothes for the fragile. Even the dresses, done in thick wools and cut boxy with popcorn-like finishes, demanded authority. There were modern interpretations of 80s power blazers and full-cut trousers convexing to just above the ankle. If not so much a progression in terms of the aesthetic, it signaled the harmonization of strength with romance. And amidst accusations that YSL is “un-cool”, I can’t render any philosophy more modern that.
i very much enjoy all of these..