Ensemble

In his spring/summer 2014 collection for Saint Laurent, creative director Hedi Slimane revived the iconic lip motif that was notably deployed by the house namesake in his controversial "Libération" collection of 1971. These bright-red disembodied lips were among a group of references intended to evoke 1940's Parisian fashion. They are also a direct nod to the work of the Italian-born fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli (1890-1973), and her association with the surrealist artist Salvador Dalí (1904-1989). Yves Saint Laurent was deeply inspired by Schiaparelli's work, and through quoting his predecessor's appropriation of the motif, Slimane engages in a game of visual telephone across eras. The anachronism of this reference is tempered through the cut of the ensemble, which advances the distinctive, ultraslim twenty-first century silhouette that Slimane has come to be known for.