The Saint Laurent show in Paris on Tuesday had the weight of a special occasion.
Alongside friends of the house like Rosé, Zoë Kravitz, Hailey Bieber, Kate Moss, Betty Catroux and Catherine Deneuve, guests included designers Pierpaolo Piccioli, Donatella Versace and Bella Freud, stoking chatter that this might be Anthony Vaccarello’s swan song show after a decade as creative director.
Jerry Hall, who came with her daughter Georgia May Jagger, was fresh from appearing on the cover of Grazia U.K. as she gears up for the premiere of “The Celebrity Traitors” on British television on Thursday.
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“I’m so proud to be 70. I just had my 70th in July, and I started modeling when I was 16 — so, amazing career. I love fashion. I’ve been so lucky,” she said.
Hall has many fond memories of working with founder Yves Saint Laurent, not least as the inaugural face of the brand’s Opium scent, which wafted across the set.
“I had so much fun with him, with the shows, with his talent. He loved women. He was so wonderful, and I did the Opium perfume for eight years, and it was such a magical fantasy world he made, and it was such a successful perfume,” she said.
The model and actress is also a big fan of Vaccarello’s, pointing to her formfitting black dress with a portrait neckline. “I love this sculptural kind of neckline. It’s got wire in it — it’s so clever,” she gushed.
Like everyone, Hall had heard the rumors of the designer’s impending departure. “Of course, I would be sorry. But I mean, he’s so talented, I think he could do anything. I hope he will hire me for whatever else he’s doing,” she said.
A-listers like Zoe Saldaña, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Amber Valletta were dressed in Vaccarello’s revealing sheer lace designs, while Belmont Cameli, Archie Madekwe and Amelia Gray opted for a timeless black tuxedo, a longtime brand signature.
“I love the play of masculine and feminine, and the strong shoulders, the structured but also very sultry, feminine dress appeal of it all — it’s very French, very classic YSL,” Natalia Dyer said of her tuxedo dress.
The “Stranger Things” star was awestruck by the grandiose outdoor set. Gigantic golden chandeliers appeared to float in the night sky, against the backdrop of a waning moon and the sparkling Eiffel Tower.
“It’s giving a bit of ‘Phantom of the Opera’ almost, but it’s gorgeous, and everybody looks amazing. I can’t wait to see what this translates to in terms of the show,” she said ahead Vaccarello’s all-gold parade.
Francis Ford Coppola wore his tuxedo with a little red rosette on the lapel, reflecting his status as an Officer of France’s Legion of Honor.
A few days before, he had watched his daughter Sofia Coppola receive the insignia of Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters at the Palace of Versailles, where an exhibition is marking the 20th anniversary of her film “Marie Antoinette.”
“With Sofia, I have my own life magnified and multiplied by how she goes further than I did,” the proud dad said. “There are photographs of her at 4 years old, sitting with me when I was by the camera, so I figure she picked up a lot.”
Next month will mark the release of “Making Marie Antoinette,” a documentary directed by Eleanor Coppola, his late wife.
“My wife made a number of behind-the-scenes films, most famously of ‘Apocalypse Now,’ but of all the family’s films. She was the family documentarian and a wonderful filmmaker in her own right,” he said. “We were married 62 years.”
If only fashion marriages lasted that long.