Issue link: https://www.balharbourdigital.com/i/1546381
With 10 years in the rearview at Saint Laurent, Creative Director Anthony Vaccarello's approach has resulted in something seductive, true, and transcendent. Nick Remsen reflects on the impact of his limitless oeuvre. n the blink of an eye yet in the scope of nearly an odyssey, the designer Anthony Vaccarello has been at the helm of Saint Laurent (sans Yves since 2012) for a full decade. Over these past 10 years, he has, with coolness over pomp, made an inarguable stamp on fashion, and an even clearer footprint when it comes to broader influence. What Vaccarello does well, he does really well. The 44-year-old designer arrived in April 2016, and inherited a house that had undergone a gut renovation under his predecessor, Hedi Slimane. What Vaccarello did (quickly) seemed to be a more difficult task than what Slimane had enacted: He found the sumptuous bones of essential Yves Saint Laurent—the tailoring, the sex appeal, the statement shoulder, the safari jacket, and more—and imbued these origins with the energy of the late 2010s (and maintained it through the chaos of the early '20s). Vaccarello arrived at fashion through a bit of a sideways door (which may explain why he's so dexterous). Born in Brussels in 1982 to Italian parents, he started his adult life in law school, but dropped out after a year. He then enrolled at La Cambre to study sculpture; Vaccarello fully pivoted to fashion once he saw, and became entranced by, the work of such legendary designers as Rei Kawakubo and Azzedine Alaïa. He graduated with honors in 2006, and his degree collection was inspired by the Italian adult film star–turned-politician Ilona Staller (formerly known as Cicciolina.) It won him a top prize, and the late designer Karl Lagerfeld's eye; Lagerfeld hired Vaccarello right away, to work in Fendi's Roman fur atelier. His star continued to rise. In 2026, the Belgian-born designer's multifaceted discipline has expanded into something much broader than the studio or the atelier; he is a complete embodiment of the current moment, in which fashion has reached far beyond the runway. Under Vaccarello's stewardship, Saint I anthony's world 176 176 BALHAR B O U RSH O P S .CO M