In what was really a surprise to no one in the fashion world, Saint Laurent and its star designer Anthony Vaccarello are parting ways.
The Paris fashion house revealed his departure in a brief statement Friday morning, noting that he “played a key role in Saint Laurent’s development, helping to strengthen its identity and influence across the worlds of fashion and culture,” and adding that it would soon unveil its new creative leadership.
The announcement followed a Paris Fashion Week dominated by speculation that the Belgian designer would end his acclaimed 10-year tenure. His all-gold spring 2027 show — the collection marching under three monumental chandeliers and in the shadow of a twinkling Eiffel Tower — felt like a swan song, official or not.
Chemena Kamali, Chloé’s current creative director, is widely expected to succeed Vaccarello and is no stranger to the house, having served as women’s ready-to-wear design director under Vaccarello from 2016 to 2023, before taking the top job at Chloé.
“I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Anthony for his contribution to Saint Laurent over the past 10 years,” Luca de Meo, chief executive officer of Kering since September 2025, said in the release. “Through his creative vision and exacting standards, he has contributed to strengthening the enduring influence of one of France’s greatest couture houses, as we embark on a new chapter in its history.”
Cédric Charbit, president and chief executive officer of Saint Laurent, also “warmly” thanked Vaccarello for this dedication to the house. “During his tenure, Anthony took Saint Laurent on a remarkable trajectory, elevating the house to the forefront of desirability and image, while accomplishing exceptional work both creatively and through his cultural impact,” he added.
“Decision was Driven by Longer-Term Prospects”
Kering hosted a call with sell-side analysts Friday morning, telling them “the decision was driven by the longer-term prospects for Saint Laurent, and is unrelated to any recent financial performance of the brand,” according to a Barclays note.
The prospect of a Vaccarello exit was viewed with a jaundiced eye by some fashion insiders, given the Belgian designer’s large fan base, and multiple signs of its fruitful collaboration. The Lyst Index, a ranking of fashion’s hottest brands and products online, had Saint Laurent in its top five for the last 10 quarters.
After all, the house orchestrated a host of magazine covers and features this year linked to Vaccarello’s 10th anniversary at the house, and was on the cusp of releasing a slick, 90-minute documentary about the designer’s winning approach, produced by Terminal 9 Studios.
In addition, Vaccarello is to receive the International Designer of the Year trophy at the 2026 CFDA Fashion Awards on Nov. 2 in New York City, and he is one of six nominees for Designer of the Year at this year’s Fashion Awards, a fundraiser for the British Fashion Council, scheduled for Nov. 30 in London.
Vaccarello’s Rise as a Fashion Designer
A designer partial to the hot-blooded, daring side of fashion, Brussels-born Vaccarello studied sculpture at La Cambre, and came onto the international fashion radar in 2006 when he won first place at the Hyères International Festival of Fashion and Photography for his collection inspired by Italian porn star La Cicciolina. He subsequently went on to work at Fendi and in 2009 launched his namesake collection in Paris. Two years later, he scooped the ANDAM fashion award, and in 2013 was recruited by Donatella Versace to rev up the Versus brand.
Once settled into Saint Laurent, he became one of Paris Fashion Week’s most formidable showmen, erecting gob-smacking sets at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, installing a monumental waterfall one season, a giant hedge of hydrangeas in the house’s Cassandra logo the next. He evoked the essence of Saint Laurent with strong-shouldered tailoring, meaty leather jackets and faux furs, bold colors, wispy cocktail dresses, hulking costume jewelry and killer heels, usually concentrating each show on a particular silhouette or juicy slice of brand lore.
The designer is known primarily for his women’s designs, though he recently put more energy into Saint Laurent menswear, staging intimate shows at the Pinault family’s Bourse de Commerce art museum, and drawing inspiration from the founder’s signature style and his womenswear collections.
Vaccarello’s Influence on the Saint Laurent Brand went Beyond Fashion
Vaccarello kept an iron grip on Saint Laurent’s image — party photos were always in black and white only — while also widening its cultural affiliations, most dramatically by establishing Saint Laurent Productions in 2023 to produce short and feature-length films by the likes of Jim Jarmusch, Pedro Almodóvar and Jacques Audiard. In its short life, the production company has already won multiple international awards for “Emilia Pérez” and “Father Mother Sister Brother.”
Vaccarello also established Saint Laurent Editions, specializing in books, fanzines and fine art, with a dedicated retail/gallery space dubbed Saint Laurent Babylone on the Left Bank of Paris.
His inner circle included the likes of Madonna, actress Zoë Kravitz and Connor Storrie, models Kate Moss and Anja Rubik, singers Rosé and Charlotte Gainsbourg, plus such legendary figures from the days of Yves as Catherine Deneuve and Betty Catroux.
Saint Laurent’s Legacy is Long
Considered one of the holy grails of Paris fashion, Saint Laurent owes its prestige and fame to a founder who once had such a tight grip on fashion that if he made a slight change in a hemline or a subtle shift in a waistline, the repercussions rippled around the globe.
Yves Saint Laurent is often cited as the inventor of ready-to-wear through the launch in 1966 of his Rive Gauche collection. He became known for beatnik fashions, safari jackets, his landmark Ballets Russes collection, his unparalleled sense of color combinations, the artistry of his cut, designer denim and the launch of a significant fragrance and beauty business with a designer name.
Successors to the legendary couturier, who retired from couture in 2002 and died in 2008 at the age of 71, also included Alber Elbaz, Tom Ford, Stefano Pilati and Hedi Slimane — who logged two tenures: heading up the label’s Rive Gauche Homme collection in the late ’90s, and then returning from 2012 to 2016 for a vast “reform project” that included abbreviating the brand name.
It is understood Kering plans to build on the foundation left by Vaccarello, seeing significant potential to expand the brand’s daywear, menswear and jewelry offerings. At the group’s Capital Markets Day last April in Florence, de Meo told analysts “the next chapter is how to reawaken and reinvigorate icons, to transform them into iconic products that go beyond fashion cycle.”
—
Photo Credit: Resul Muslu / Shutterstock.com
