Saint Laurent Held Its Men's Show in a Moroccan Desert Oasis
Fashion

Saint Laurent Held Its Men's Show in a Moroccan Desert Oasis

Last summer, Saint Laurent held a dreamy menswear show in Venice, where models walked in billowing capes and peasant blouses around a giant mirrored structure that reflected the Venetian lagoon.

Today's Spring 2023 Men's outing in Marrakech's Agafay Desert was equally as serene and otherwordly. There was a ring-like, haze-emitting structure set against the Moroccan sunset as models circled around in tuxedo variations, fluid coats and relaxed, linear shapes not unlike the women's collection shown in Paris earlier this year.

Marrakech was considered a refuge for Yves Saint Laurent, who discovered the city in 1966 where he and his partner partner Pierre Bergé would often escape from Paris' hectic work schedule. It's also the cite of a museum (opened in 2017) entirely devoted to his work.

Like last year's Venice installation, a collaboration between creative director Anthony Vaccarello and American artist Doug Aitken, the luminous Marrakech set was the result of another partnership, this time with London-based stage designer Esmeralda "Es" Devlin (she does a lot of work for the Super Bowl's half-time shows).

This season, Vaccarello was inspired byThe Sheltering Sky, a 1949 existential novel by Paul Bowles set in North Africa, whose excerpts were listed in the show notes.

"We think of life as an inexhaustible well," it reads. "Yet everything happens a certain number of times, and a very small number, really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, some afternoon that’s so deeply a part of your being that you can’t even conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four or five times more. Perhaps not even. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty. And yet it all seems limitless."

VIPs who flew in include Catherine Deneuve, Iann Dior, Luka Sabbat, Steve Lacy, Euphoria's Dominic Fike, models Anja Rubik, Laura Harrier and Mica Argañaraz, and actress Talia Ryder.

It's the latest far-flung outing for Saint Laurent, who also put on a menswear show in Malibu Beach before the pandemic, signaling a continuing focus on the brand's men's side (its women's shows are typically held in Paris during Fashion Month).

Catherine Deneuve

Photos courtesy of Saint Laurent