Anthony Vacarello's Rise
Over the last eight years, Anthony Vacarello has established himself in the brutal arena known as the high fashion world. Constantly embodying reinvention, Vacarello has seamlessly merged his personal love for dark glamour with the legacy of Yves Saint Laurent. But the path has been far from easy.
Anthony Vacarello for his Business of Fashion profile available at BoF © All rights belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.
The designer's love of glamour has been evident since he began his eponymous brand in 2009. The designs, mostly sticking to a black color scheme, embodied the glamour and technical skill Vacarello would come to be known for at YSL. The tailoring is impeccable, the attention to detail a product of many years studying under the likes of Karl Lagerfeld at Fendi.
Look 19 from Vacarello’s 2013 Ready-to-Wear collection. Photo courtesy of Filippo Fior for Vogue Runway © All rights belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.
Vacarello's career took a dramatic turn when he was appointed as creative director of Yves Saint Laurent in 2016. Francesca Bellettini, the CEO of Yves Saint Laurent, declared in the announcement of his appointment her excitement "to have Anthony Vaccarello take the creative helm of Yves Saint Laurent." She continued to sing his praises, "his modern, pure aesthetic is the perfect fit for the maison. Anthony Vaccarello impeccably balances elements of provocative femininity and sharp masculinity in his silhouettes. He is the natural choice to express the essence of Yves Saint Laurent."
And Bellettini couldn't have been more spot on. With his first collection for the brand, boldly held in a former monastery, Vacarello drew inspiration from the 80s. With the era already making a comeback in Parisian street style, the designer’s collection struck a chord making it an instant classic.
The opening look from Saint Laurent Spring 2017 Ready-to-Wear pays homage to the balloonified shoulders of the 1980’s. Photo courtesy of Marcus Tondo © All rights belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.
In Vacarello's most recently viral and trendsetting collection, the designer played with fashion's opacity and devised a new yet referencial shoe silhouette for the house. His use of neutral tones and unabashed obsession with all things sheer felt authentic to Saint Laurent while emphasizing the bodily. In a culture that is so obsessed with the body and showing it, Mark Holgate nailed it when calling the collection "radically chic". Ephemeral yet taut and real and touchable, Vacarello's mastery has no bounds.
Anthony Vacarello’s Fall 2024 Ready-to-Wear collection. Available at YSL © All rights belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.
In his most courageous step yet, Vacarello has now taken Saint Laurent to the silver screen. The creative director's next pivot for the brand involves "Saint Laurent Productions," marking the first time (according to the house's website) a luxury fashion house "has full-fledged production of films among" its core activities. At this year's Cannes Film Festival, Netflix’s Emilia Perez premiered, produced by Vacarello and the Saint Laurent team. The entire wardrobe was designed by Anthony Vacarello, so no surprise the film was full of sultry glamour and expert tailoring.
Zoe Zaldaña in Emilia Perez wearing custom Anthony Vacarello suiting. Photo via Netflix, © All rights belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.
Anthony Vacarello’s multifaceted approach to creative direction has put him in the top contenders for designer of the year with the likes of Jonathan Anderson and Daniel Roseberry. And his reign has only just begun with many collections, moments, and Hollywood appearances to come.
