Saint Laurent’s latest presentation was a highlight of Men’s Week—but the clothing itself derived from the house’s long-standing innovation in the realm of womenswear. Housed beneath the grand dome of Tadao Ando’s Bourse de Commerce, Anthony Vaccarello’s Winter 2023 show embodied modern elegance across gendered lines, featuring fluid yet assertive silhouettes, a neutral palette, and swaths of the finest fabrics—mohair, cashmere, satin, velvet.

“I really want them to be almost one person,” said Vaccarello of those figurative archetypes, which characterize Saint Laurent’s womenswear and menswear traditions. “Women could be the men, and the men could be the women. No difference… No distinction.” Adorned blouses are thus carried over, along with draped hoods, sweeping turtleneck gowns, sheer cut-outs, trailing bows, and heeled boots.

The effect was a presentation ultra-refined; models walked to a classical soundtrack, tracing the rotunda’s full perimeter. The O shape, writes Saint Laurent, is “a symbol of perfection and purity of execution”—a “recurrent, pertinent thread,” that defines the house’s mission. It all came together with an element of futurism: pristine geometry, forward-thinking dress codes, and the new making good use of classics.