The perfect domination of "black"
The contemporary Saint Laurent runway shows are incredibly beautiful
With the Eiffel Tower at night as a backdrop, models sprint down a black glass runway. The silhouettes constructed by Anthony Vaccarello are dominated by sharp sheer fabrics, heavy leather, and the "jet black" of perfectly tailored tuxedo jackets (Le Smoking). Unquestionably stylish, it's a huge commercial success at the pinnacle of street style and luxury
But when I look at those perfect black cut-offs, a small, lingering sense of unease begins to sprout deep within my heart
"Is this really the soul of Yves Saint Laurent?"
Since the "Yves" part of the brand name was removed and it was restructured as "Saint Laurent Paris," the maison has become extremely refined. However, in exchange for that refinement, it seems that a certain crucial element that the genius designer poured his heart and soul into expressing has been neatly removed
From Mondrian to Russia: Eve's "Madness of Color"
As is evident from a look back at the history of fashion, the essence of Yves Saint Laurent was by no means limited to "the chicness of black." Rather, he was a more excessive, almost destructive, "magician of color" than anyone else
Think back to the "Mondrian Look" presented in 1965. That collection, which elevated Piet Mondrian's abstract paintings—the vivid primary colors of red, blue, and yellow, and black lines—into dresses through the perfect geometric calculations of seams, was a landmark of structuralism in fashion. What was there was a harmony of cool intellect and bold primary colors. I think the A-line dress inspired by Mondrian is undoubtedly synonymous with the Yves Saint Laurent era
Furthermore, in the 1976 "Haute Couture Russia Collection," she excessively layered gold thread, velvet, and vivid oriental colors, bringing a dramatic explosion of color to the fashion world
For Yves, clothing was an act of imprinting the complex emotions of humanity and the pulse of art onto a canvas as vivid "colors" and "structures."
The eerie feeling I experienced at the Majorelle Garden
I also felt a sense of unease when I stood on the grounds of the Jardin Majorelle in Marrakech, Morocco
The garden, created by the painter Jacques Majorelle and later bought and saved from ruin by Yves and Pierre Bergé, is a sanctuary of beauty where cobalt blue (Majorelle blue) and yellow bloom vividly under the intense North African sun. It is also a "place of life" where Yves, who was on the verge of being crushed by severe emotional trauma, drugs, and the pressures of couture, replenished his energy with the colors after his escape
Visiting the now-tourist-oriented Majorelle Garden leaves you with an indescribably strange feeling of weightlessness
The gift shop is lined with graphic posters of "LOVE" that Yves continued to send to her loved ones, and tourists from all over the world take selfies in front of the YSL logo
At first glance, the posters and photo spots seem pop and adorable. However, when you consider the cold, perfect "Mondrian geometry" of 1965, it leaves a somewhat poignant sense of unease
Why did a genius capable of constructing perfect canvas geometry feel compelled to escape the pressure by fleeing to this garden in Marrakech, and to continue writing "LOVE" in distorted, hand-drawn letters?
What Eve once pursued with such passion and intensity—"feverish colors and the anguish of life"—now appears to have been neatly managed and sterilized as a tourist attraction owned by a massive corporation
That said, I have no objection to enjoying it as a tourist attraction in the 21st century, and I myself enjoyed it. And the poster exhibition is definitely wonderful
However, on the other hand, when I watch the documentary about people escaping to the gardens of Marrakech to escape the pressure, I can't help but feel a complex mix of emotions about this cheerful, commercialized tourist attraction
The convergence towards "safe black" jobs that capitalism demands
Why is modern Saint Laurent so heavily reliant on "black"?
The answer is simple. It's because they stripped away Yves' complex and dangerous aesthetic of color—a painterly, context-dependent, and delicately evocative style that was difficult to sell—and condensed it into a "cool, sophisticated black icon" that is most easily consumed in the global market
"Black" is safe. It looks good on anyone, it eliminates noise, and it fits in both street fashion and the seats of luxury cars
Vaccarello's black silhouettes are undoubtedly hacking the times. However, this is not a continuation of the "drama of color and structure" that Yves Saint Laurent poured his life into, but rather a marketing success calculated by a giant corporation (the Kering Group)
- Yves Saint Laurent (past): Mondrian's geometry, the explosion of Majorelle Blue, the murky passions of humanity and the madness of color.
- Saint Laurent (Contemporary): Sterilized jet black, rock-and-roll street luxury, perfectly controlled commodity.
5. Watching the runway with a sense of distortion
I don't mean to harshly criticize modern Saint Laurent. I'm still fascinated by the beautiful cuts of Vaccarello's jackets, and I understand the overwhelming coolness of that cold, black fashion
However, we should be aware of this
The perfect jet black that dominates the runways today is also a "castration in the name of refinement," the result of bleaching out the raw colors that the genius of the past struggled with
As I gaze upon the jet-black spectacle unfolding beneath the Eiffel Tower, recalling the dazzling cobalt blue of the Majorelle Garden, I find myself searching within its perfectly black silhouettes for the lingering scent of a genius who, under the intense Moroccan sun, was consumed by color and cried out for love and madness
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