“A light shines all the more brightly because we know it cannot be held. What passes sometimes leaves more light than what remains,” Anthony Vaccarello wrote in the show notes for his Saint Laurent spring/summer 2027 runway that was just staged during Paris Fashion Week. Rumors immediately began swirling about his departure. Was it a farewell message? The designer, who has been at the helm of the French maison since 2016, hasn’t given any indication of making any career moves, yet the crowd that gathered underneath the glimmering lights of the Eiffel Tower the evening of the show whispered otherwise.

Everything was cast in gold, from the looks the models walked in to the massive golden chandeliers that towered high above them. “I love gold,
it’s a magical color,” Yves Saint Laurent himself once said. “When reflecting a woman, it’s the color of the sun.” Vaccarello seemed to take that sentiment to heart. Gold was not a mere accent but the entire language of the collection, and it appeared as liquid lamé, burnished satin, and metallic leather that caught the light with every step. The sharp-shouldered tailoring and languid evening wear that have defined his tenure were all present but rendered in a golden glow that felt oddly wistful, as if the clothes were already becoming memories.