Saint Laurent At The Hollywood Palladium

On Wednesday night French Fashion House Saint Laurent unveiled its FW2016 collection at the Palladium in Hollywood, CA. This was the luxury label’s first full-scale fashion show in Los Angeles and the venue in addition to the black-and-white billboards and posters plastered all over town hinted that the show was meant to coincide with the upcoming Grammy Awards.


So why L.A. and not N.Y.? Perhaps it is because Saint Laurent’s artistic director Hedi Slimane has lived in the City of Angeles since 2008 and cites the town as a source of inspiration. Show invites accompanied by booklets featuring the work of L.A. based artist Mitchell Syrop were delivered by courier to young model types, fashion industry insiders, and celebrity royalty.


The inside of the Palladium resembled a trendy nightclub – complete with servers holding trays of champagne. The mainly rock ‘n’ roll inspired runway show was presented on a circular catwalk and featured a mash up of styles and time periods with touches of English mod-rock, glam-rock, floral prints, and Victorian and Western inspired pieces.

Slimane tends to favor an androgynous approach to menswear, so in addition to skinny-pants and slim-fit three-piece suits feminine style bow neck blouses were the centerpiece of the menswear collection and were also incorporated in the women’s ready-to-wear looks. Velvet, leather, fringe, feathers, sequins, and sparkles were a focal point of a number of flamboyant, stage-ready looks. Model’s sported bandleader jackets, velvet capes, metallic vests, wide belts, and coats featuring the black and white musical note design, which was resurrected in honor of the 50^th anniversary of YSL’s Rive Gauche collection.

This spectacular presentation was followed by a festive after-party and concert that lasted into the wee hours of the morning. Die hard attendees were treated to performances by Beck, Father John Misty, Joan Jett, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Allah-Las, Cheryl Glazerr, and The Sloths (who celebrated their triumphant return to the Palladium 50 years later).

If you didn’t receive your invitation via courier you can watch the runway show here and be sure to check out The Sloths new video for “One Way Out.” 

Narrative by Nikki Neil

Photos courtesy of Saint Laurent and The Sloths