Style / Fashion

Saint Laurent Fall 2020 menswear collection channels Serge Gainsbourg

Saint Laurent Fall 2020 menswear collection channels Serge Gainsbourg with a dash of That 60s Show

Aug 27, 2020 | By Jonathan Ho

The 60s were an era of anti-establishment cultural phenomenon that developed throughout much of the Western world and much as the age of Beat counter-culture provided the muse for Anthony Vaccarello for his fall 2020 Saint Laurent menswear, the collection felt less like a reminder of Beat cultural elements and its categorical rejection of standard narrative values and economic materialism and more ironically a nod to the cool, kitschy crossroads of 1950s classicism and early socio-cultural rebellion.

It’s true, classic tailoring and double breasted cuts have returned strongly for men; the Saint Laurent Fall 2020 menswear is no different but perhaps, more suited in terms of the utilitarian look and emphasis on functionality as a result of the many crises that have enveloped the mid two quarters of 2020; with no hint to an abatement of the existential crisis, Vaccarelloā€™s inspiration and the resulting Saint Laurent Fall 2020 menswear collection is best explained in his words: ā€œEven with what happened to the world, [this look] is always relevant as [itā€™s] a simple and functional silhouette.ā€

Saint Laurent Fall 2020 menswear collection channels Serge Gainsbourg

Indeed, Vaccarello takes worsted wool double breasted jackets and pairs them with worn denims, creating a boyish countenance, a masculinity that falls on a side of youthful innocence rather than cynical toxicity – if the Saint Laurent Fall 2020 menswear collection could be embodied in a person: it’s more Henry Cavil’s Clark Kent than Henry Cavil’s jaded Witcher; it cleans up nicely but also, even when dirtied down, it’s kinda hot.

Vaccarelloā€™s deft streetwear sensitivities takes the best of Saint Laurent’s aesthetics and infused with contemporary relevance, recalls the legacy of the storied house without descending into the uncomfortable territory of a forced homage of its heritage. A modern sensibility, the kind of menswear that Yves Saint Laurent himself might have worn himself, unfussy yet polished, classic yet iconoclastic, it’s a sophisticated rebellion of leather aviator jacket with tailored and tapered dress pants.

Channelling artist and icon, Serge Gainsbourg, the Parisian counterpart to the New York Beatniks, Vaccarello said, ā€œIā€™m a big fan of Serge Gainsbourg,ā€ describing the Saint Laurent Fall 2020 menswear collection “like an obsession for me to always start with the feeling of a pinstriped jacket with blue denim, a khaki shirt, and classic shoes. I will never be tired of that way [of his] to wear clothes…nonchalance but extreme taste in the details.ā€


 
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