We need to talk about the new Saint Laurent collection. The models who walked down the runway were a spectre of late nineties fashion imagery - gaunt, barefaced models who were more hauntingly striking than beautiful or sexy.
YSL's brand has effectively skipped the 1980s and landed firmly in the grungy, anti-fashion spirit of the 1990s. Large camo jackets paired with silk camisoles and sequinned mini-dresses were paired with clumsy wellies, making models look like they may have just rocked up at Glastonbury... or out of a questionable night club at 4am.
What is particularly interesting is the juxtaposition of the overtly sexual with the simply lazy: the oversized jackets paired with figure hugging, sheer slip dresses and fishnet material looking tartily ridiculous next to the ugly practicality of the wellington boots.
What Heidi Slimane has done with this collection isn't new, but the unsettling androgyny and unexpected signifiers of eroticism (the odd nipple, the lace and fishnet, the bare skin) is strangely captivating, particularly in contrast to this season's over-archingly colourful and print-heavy major catwalk collections.
And on a final note... I want one of those tiaras. Can we make them a trend please?
All images are attributed to Marcus Tondo / Indigitalimages.com via Style.com