PARIS: Slit pencil skirt, dropped shoulder jacket, plunging neckline and stiletto heels: Saint Laurent made the skirt suit, a forgotten ensemble, sexy during Tuesday’s Paris Fashion Week.

Models, slim and long-legged, walk behind sunglasses on a chandelier-lit catwalk. In the front row, fashion tycoon Anna Wintour puts on hers when the show begins.

Black, navy blue with tennis stripes: the colors are classic, but the daring of the skirt suit, this flagship look of the fall-winter 2023 collection, comes from the cut of the jacket and the contrast with fluid or transparent pieces that match it.

The skirt can also be worn with blouses with a bow that runs down the back like a train and flesh-colored transparent tops. Tartan patterns invite on skirts or coats with XXL shoulders like jackets.

Another element traditionally associated with the male wardrobe: a plaid that envelops the upper body, beautifully draped and studded with massive golden jewels.

“The Saint Laurent woman exposes her body when she chooses and hides it when she chooses,” Belgian designer Anthony Vaccarello said in the parade note.

For evening looks, the skirt can be replaced with skinny cashmere pants: the modernity of the outfit is unthinkable without comfort.

The backless little black dress has clean lines and falls above the knee like skirts.

The show’s decor is inspired by the ballroom of the Intercontinental Hotel, where Saint Laurent presented its haute couture collections between 1975 and 2001.

The chandeliers, symbolizing the opulence of the decor of the time, are placed here in a black box where the show takes place in front of the Eiffel Tower, where the house traditionally moves.

“An incredible, strong and powerfully feminine collection – no one jokes with this Saint Laurent woman!” Simon Longland, fashion buying director at Harrods, told AFP.

“The collection appeared to be straight out of Yves’ own 1980s archives, but in Anthony’s hands he made it his own and resolutely modern,” he continued, expecting it “to resonate with Harrods customers “.