Worship and longing at the house of Saint Laurent

HONG KONG —The walls had ears and the doors had eyes — this was how I felt inside the Saint Laurent Paris showroom in Hong Kong, like I was at church and Marianne Faithfull was in the choir, her voice faintly emanating from behind the heavy glass entry. My reluctance to touch any of the items displayed (God forbid I might smudge anything with my mucky fingers) was encouraged by a mandate that taking photos was not allowed. Saint Laurent had no need for any more Instagram popularity, not with the surge of followers it has gained since the return of Hedi Slimane as its creative director. His name comes with a new guard notoriety that is as easy to despise as it is incredibly easy to worship his interpretation of the label. His fascination with rock ‘n’ roll and music in general is obvious in each collection, rendering it with a badass allure that is all but irresistible. It is not for everybody, but then again nothing is. My mindset upon entering the showroom was the same one I employ when faced with art — do not question the pieces, they are just so. Also, that Saint Laurent’s new customers are slim, young and unbearably rich.

Vogue has likened Slimane to a Transylvanian count, and GQ has christened him “Prince of Darkness,” but the pieces before us that day did not quite carry the same heroin chic vibe of his menswear debut in 2013. The Saint Laurent Paris (as it has been rebranded from the original Yves Saint Laurent) A/W 2014 collection is happy and charming, with a lot more French chic, maybe because the pieces were inspired by the peace, love and freedom-loving youth culture of the ‘60s, both fashion and music-wise.

Marianne Faithfull, in fact, turns out to be the latest subject to stand in front of Slimane’s lens, who also chronicles rock icons in high-contrast black-and-white. He photographed the 67-year-old singer last March in Paris, to join the likes of Kim Gordon, Courtney Love, Beck and Marilyn Manson, who have all appeared in Saint Laurent campaigns wearing a version of the Le Smoking.

The clothes hung on racks that created an L-shape around the brightly lit room — a degree of fluorescence similar to that of VSCO Cam’s Hypebeast filter that made everything seem too clean to touch. But I couldn’t help but touch — texture is a key element in fall/winter fashion, and Saint Laurent’s definitely had that magnetism. Babydoll-esque dresses were hand-sequined in gold, magenta and blue from collar to hem, two of which on display referenced American conceptual artist John Baldessari’s abstract works (his work is also featured on the invitation of Saint Laurent’s A/W 2014 show). Only 10 pieces were made for each of these “Baldessari” dresses.

There were two mink coats that stood out — one that might have literally come from a silver fox, and another that was a patchwork of different colors of fur. Geometric prints were prominent on little black dresses, as were gold gun prints, leopard and checks. The skirts were short, the sleeves were long and the boots were tall, glittery and flat, all meant to be worn with thick opaque tights.

For menswear, there was a lot of tartan, plaid and tweed. The silhouettes are roomy and anti-Slimane, if you will. It’s the first time he is introducing and encouraging layering, creating boxy jackets and oversize coats to wear over his trademark slim ones. There were glitzy pieces, which the other journalists and I joked would perhaps look best on Elton John, the emerald green sequined one in particular, and another glittery rose one with a velvet lapel might suit Bruno Mars (who wore a custom Saint Laurent suit at his Superbowl performance, by the way). Studs are still in fashion, though on this collection’s leather jackets, the screws have less spike and shine, and are instead worn and matte, looking like they were hammered into place. Pants, of course, remain slim and are probably best worn by the typical gangly Saint Laurent man who’s never heard about Leg Day or the gym for that matter, but looks good anyway.

The showroom also held the first travel luggage collection from Saint Laurent, which includes 30 items all in all, monogrammed with the new interpretation of the traditional YSL Cassandre logo designed in by Adolphe Jean-Marie Mouron in 1961.

Between sips of Saint Laurent Paris-labeled water and whiffs of Saint Laurent Paris candles, I examined the collection one more time. Feeling the fabrics and seeing the handiwork upclose, I gathered a couture feel from the ready-to-wear line (though according to the Telegraph in late 2013, a Saint Laurent spokesperson has confirmed that the Haute Couture branch is not being relaunched in the near future). Despite the cold, gallery-like setting, the soul of Saint Laurent Paris could be felt in Hong Kong. Immediately it became clear how people can feel strongly for or against Slimane and all that he’s done with the label. Everything is very him and seemingly personal — either you get with it or get out. If they had let us Instagram the clothes, we might have stayed forever.

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Saint Laurent Paris will be opening a boutique at the East Wing of Shangri-La Plaza this month. In the Philippines, Saint Laurent Paris is exclusively distributed by Stores Specialists, Inc.