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Yves Saint Laurent

PARIS, January 30, 2005
By Tim Blanks
Stefano Pilati had two goals in his first catwalk presentation for Yves Saint Laurent menswear. One was to dress a man for every conceivable eventuality in his day (Pilati even mentioned taking tea); the other was to show that men could wear color with the same ease and confidence as they wear black.

Colors in often clashing combinations were a signature of YSL's womenswear, but Pilati modernized the idea and made it user-friendly for men by adopting a monochrome tone-on-tone approach and opting for much more muted shades—like the opening suit, in gray flannel with just a hint of purple—than those he found in the archives. The boldest item was a purple mohair coat, cut in a military style, but there was nothing to scare the horses in air force blue, moss green, heather, or butterscotch (in a jacket-over-sweater-over-shirt combo, with caramel velvet cords). A number of three-piece suits suggested that the YSL man's day means business (teatime aside), but Pilati struck a merciful balance with a chunky navy shearling and a belted black leather jacket.

Though the label's heritage came through in some of the textures (brushed cotton, Shetland) and a cabled, shoulder-buttoned sweater, Pilati also worked his own vocabulary. He favored a straight shoulder (rather than the slight pagoda effect preferred by Saint Laurent) and a torso-elongating low closure—as in a single-button, double-breasted overcoat, or Le Smoking that closed the show.

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