PFW Diary: Stefano Pilati says au revoir with an almost entirely black final collection at Yves Saint Laurent

Photography by Peter Stigter

Photography by Peter Stigter

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“He sure is going out with a bang,” said the retailer sitting next to me, summing up Stefano Pilati’s final collection for Yves Saint Laurent.

Black suit after black suit—each one chicer and stricter than the next—opened the show, then life-size calla lilies in purple and green jacquard began appearing from head to toe. Those same hues gleamed in chain-link dresses, leather turtlenecks, and in a sort of stained-glass effect on the platforms and heels of pumps and boots. The mesh was also used as trim at the necklines of evening gowns and jumpsuits. Pilati took his bow to cheers, leaving a mood of hollow sadness in the room.

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