Paris Fashion Week: Want a French twist on minimalist classics? Try Yves Saint Laurent

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Stefano Pilati is on a roll at Yves Saint Laurent. For spring, he built on his terrific fall collection, further establishing the house as the premiere destination for minimalist classics with a French twist.

YSL is the place to go for a white pantsuit that looks like no other--crisp pants and a jacket with ballooning sleeves and a double collar. There’s the shirtdress that’s a wardrobe staple, and then there was the one that became a thing of beauty in Pilati’s hands, with a funnel neck, bow-tied in front, and a softly draped skirt. Even a basic black leather pencil skirt had a chic twist--subtle black dots.

This collection was intended to be a study in contrasts, the sharp tailoring of a white sleeveless jacket offset by the romance of decorative pinwheels of pleats, for example.

But there were things that didn’t work, such as shorts with corset lacing over the tummy (because every woman wants to draw attention to that area), and a passage of blousy peasant dresses with strawberry embroideries that felt like a silly intrusion into an otherwise grown-up and sophisticated look.
-- Booth Moore

Photos: Yves Saint Laurent’s Spring-Summer 2010 runway

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