A rumor burst onto the internet two weeks ago. It claimed that Anthony Vaccarello's time at Saint Laurent would soon be coming to an end. If this is in fact goodbye, a show marking almost exactly a decade at the house and a collection made nearly entirely of gold would certainly be a way to go out.

This is the way it seemed, at least, at Vaccarello's Saint Laurent Spring/Summer 2027 show last night in Paris. It has been ten years and two days since the designer's debut in 2016, marking a decade of pure austerity and devotion to the Saint Laurent brand, steeped in luxury and steadfastly unwavering to trends. Vaccarello's legacy is one that will be remembered for a total unwillingness to succumb to the mundane or unglamorous.

Photo: Saint Laurent
Photo: Saint Laurent

So to mark the end (we think), he gave us a collection in gold. “I’ve had this collection in mind for a long time, and finally felt that this was the right moment to bring it to light. It’s a very personal one for me, charged with emotion, so this time I’d rather not say too much and let you experience all its shades. With Love, Anthony,” his show notes read. With the backdrop of a lit-up Eiffel Tower (as always), the runway was additionally illuminated by great big gold candlelit chandeliers, which tracked down the length of the set. These acted as a point of reflection for what was to come, which was a series of sahariennes, trenches, blouses, and wrap skirts of Yves' legacy rendered in endless shades of gold.

Photo: Saint Laurent
Photo: Saint Laurent

These shades—Byzantine gold, pale gold, Renaissance gold, matte gold, Art Deco gold, burnished gold—were adapted through fabrication. Cotton métallisée, latex coated in gold leaf, guipure lace, lamé, and jacquard offered up the foundation. Next came two-piece cocktail sets with strappy necklines, a series of skirts that looked truly like panels of the precious metal, brocade pants and matching jackets, and some with fur-trimmed sleeves to add a Vaccarello flourish. He is no stranger to preserving the Saint Laurent archetype, and here Vaccarello sings its praises while leaving his own signatures impressed upon the collection.

This was best represented in the strong-shouldered suiting: the gilded leather jackets, the racerback crop tops in brocade, and the mousseline scarves on the first 15-or-so looks. The scarves, in particular, created a flourish of softness and movement that trailed behind each model in various jewel tones.

Saint Laurent SS27 // Saint Laurent
Saint Laurent SS27 // Saint Laurent
Photo: Saint Laurent
Photo: Saint Laurent

There was a 1991 Fall Rive Gauche collection by Yves Saint Laurent staged with gold chandeliers. The end procession featured a series of gold looks, all in lamé and brocade. Yves was historically a fan of the color, famously once stating: "I love gold, it's a magical color, when reflecting a woman, it's the color of the sun," as the notes referenced. Here, Vaccarello put things in reverse, ending the ultra-tight collection as he always does, with a series of black evening looks in organza and velvet. A velvet suit is repeated with jewel buttons and shiny bows, while a black cloud-like gown is erratically draped, each growing more voluminous and layered than the last—drama is never spared with Vaccarello.

Photo: Saint Laurent
Photo: Saint Laurent

In the end, Charlotte Gainsbourg emerged to give a surprise vocal performance; the chorus of the song repeated “You are so much, Yves Saint Laurent” as Vaccarello took what many suspect will be his final bow for the house. Plenty of us will have seen the video in which he takes the house keys out of his pocket and offers them to his son in the audience, a gesture of passing on the legacy. Via email shortly after the show, the notes opened with a quote from the designer: "A light shines all the more brightly because we know it cannot be held. What passes sometimes leaves more light than what remains."

If this is really the case at the Kering-owned brand, few words could more accurately summarize Vaccarello's tenure at Saint Laurent. There are only a slender handful of designers today that leave such an enduring mark on a house already so steeped in legacy. How does one sum up such a seismic run? Anthony Vaccarello sets the gold standard.