At Saint Laurent this season, Anthony Vaccarello swapped his usual show space at the Bourse de Commerce for an outdoor venue. Guests sat beneath the looming presence of the Eiffel Tower as models walked around hedges of hydrangeas arranged in the shape of the YSL logo. To further heighten the luxe atmosphere, the scent of YSL’s iconic fragrance Opium was diffused throughout the scene.

On the runway, Vaccarello looked again to Robert Mapplethorpe and his leather-clad wardrobe. Thick leather coats and skirts, cinched with heavy belts, were paired with anonymising sunglasses and statement earrings. A common motif were crisp white shirts that tied in large knots at the front, usually paired with a jacket with severe, militaristic shoulders.

The collection then turned to a series of sheer fabric trenches, buttoned all the way up with buckled-closed collars. These were cinched with judo belts to help bolster the distinctly 80s silhouettes. The colours of these coats were a standout section of the catwalk: pumpkin oranges, coffee browns, pomegranate reds, and a shade of blue only seen on blue raspberry bonbons.

Then, drama. A grand finale of ruched and ruffled dresses, each one turning the head of everyone when it enters a room. The show notes make reference here to the Duchess of Guermantes (a character from Marcel Proust’s À la recherche du temps perdu) and John Singer Sargent’s controversial portrait of Madame X, which infamously showed a bit too much decalotage for its Gilded Age audience. These dresses had huge billowy shoulders and ruffles like foxgloves cascading down, each feeling more decadent and opulent than the one preceding it.

The show notes ended with the collection’s raison d’être: “This show asserts that clothing is both a visual and symbolic argument. Beauty is plural. Aesthetics become a language of resistance, respect, and inclusion.”