Saint Laurent FW2020 Paris Fashion Week: The Vinyl Trend Returns

By Denise Dogan

YSL has always eluded class and elegance, and they did not miss in this years Fall/Winter line. This week in Paris weÔÇÖve seen a few brands bring back big looks from previous fashion trends. Dior bringing back the grunge look from the 2000ÔÇÖs for one. But it seems YSL wanted to bring back the 1960ÔÇÖs to modern fashion. This yearÔÇÖs line differed from last yearÔÇÖs drastically, showing how quick evolving fashion really is. Last year as they showed off a lot of animals prints, however this year YSL implemented tonnes of vibrant colours.

 Fall/Winter collections usually stick with base colours and branch out to a couple of extra colours in order to use them as accessories with the base. We usually see black as the base colour, and auburn oranges or earth browns to compliment the black. However, this year YSL wanted to change this. They still kept black as a base colour; however this was complimented with purples, blues and reds. 

This was very different to watch but also very refreshing as it was not the usual. It was impossible to miss the heavy use of vinyl in the new line. Vinyl was used a lot at first in the 1960ÔÇÖs, usually started with raincoats and jackets in general. Towards the mid 1960ÔÇÖs this moved to skirts and trousers and even co-ord sets. The use of vinyl lately has been quite popular. The images of latex looks have seemed to have risen in the last year, so YSL took it upon themselves to bring this look in further. They took it, and made it elegant. The use of vibrant colours is also reflective of 60ÔÇÖs fashion even going into the 70ÔÇÖs. 

YSL smartly used spotlights to light up the catwalk, the spotlights were in intervals and it reminded us of the 70ÔÇÖs aesthetic. The line that was designed by Anthony Vaccarello, perfectly complimented the 70ÔÇÖs aesthetic he achieved through lighting. It was almost like time travel. VaccarelloÔÇÖs designs were really beautiful; however it did seem too vibrant for the fashion world today. The shades were of a deep nature but a very bright one. This definitely made YSL shine in this yearÔÇÖs Fall/Winter fashion week in Paris, I just canÔÇÖt quite decipher if it was the right move.

 While the use of blazer jackets and blouses were gorgeous, I was not quite sure on the heavy use of vinyl trousers and dresses. This does not go to say they were bad looking; however, it is very hard to implement vinyl looks into fashion when they become difficult to style with the mass mixture of trends that exist today. Nonetheless, YSLÔÇÖs show was pure class and elegance, and Vaccarello once again wows the audience. I admire the bravery to design a line like this, it definitely stunned me. I was impressed and I like to think everyone else was too.