How the Saint Laurent Show Cast Somersaulted Across the Rooftops of Paris, New York and Beijing
Earlier this week we wondered if Saint Laurent was staging its spring 2021 men’s show atop a famous Paris landmark, namely Paris’ Sacré Coeur basilica.
Mainly because the teaser material the house sent FN involved shots of aforementioned basilica with a model perched on a balustrade running around its dome. And indeed they did. But this is by no means the whole story.
In fact they staged one great big mother of a digital show that traversed three continents. The production’s cast ran parkour style across the rooftops of Paris, but also those of New York and Beijing. Yes, via much technical wizardry, Saint Laurent showed in Paris, New York and Beijing for spring 2021. Simultaneously.
Art Direction : Anthony Vaccarello Director : Nathalie Canguilhem Soundtrack : SebastiAn, ysl.com
In addition to the Sacré Coeur, the Great Wall of China also put in a cameo along with Paris’ Grand Palais, various bridges and the Eiffel Tower itself, backdrop to the house’s more accustomed, pre-pandemic, show venue.
There was a lot of pretty impressive CGI technology in play where the cast somersaulted, slid and vaulted across time zones and also, on one occasion, seemingly between skyscrapers in NYC.
The show was titled ‘No Matter How Long the Night Is’. The idea being that, basically, it’s always going to be night somewhere.
According to the ‘show notes’ “the Saint Laurent Men’s Spring Summer 2021 Project curated by Anthony Vaccarello, is a unique virtual and physical experience, bringing together videos, augmented reality, 3D lenticular imagery, music playlist, street posters, hidden stickers, photo walls, flags, and more; all connecting the places from around the world, digitally to physically.”
Kering-owned brand Saint Laurent created a ripple effect in April when it announced its intention to reshape its show schedule. At the time it released a statement saying that it planned to present its collections according to its “own rhythm.”
However, after announcing that he would not show in line with the traditional 2020 calendar, creative director Anthony Vaccarello left his plans open ended in terms of when and how collections will be presented going forward.
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