The Saint Laurent Beauty Rules: Tracing the House’s Signature Glamour Through the Decades

Saint Laurent has experienced its share of changes over the years—ownership, creative directors, even the truncation of its name—but throughout the decades, one overarching element has helped to define the brand’s runway presence (aside from the Le Smoking, of course): an undeniably chic approach to beauty. Yves himself gravitated to women who offered new takes on classic looks—Catherine Deneuve, Betty Catroux—an aesthetic echoed in subversive form by recently departed creative director Hedi Slimane and his cool-girl army, defined by the likes of Cara Delevingne, Courtney Love, and Grimes.

Before Slimane’s grunge-look tiaras made us rethink the timeless topper, the YSL woman reached for a wide-brimmed hat, which conveyed an aura of glamorous mystery under the direction of Alber Elbaz and Tom Ford in the early aughts, and I’m-with-the-band bohemianism when reimagined during Slimane’s reign. Whatever the vibe, the results were the same: instant insouciance and no bad hair days. Red lips—in shades ranging from crimson to merlot—have long lent the house’s muses a certain magnetism, as have variations of the wet-look slick-back: always chic, but with a sense of off-the-cuff coolness. Likewise, Slimane ensured that graphic onyx liner is synonymous with the Saint Laurent girl, whether artfully flicked, coated over lids, or encasing eyes entirely in quirky geometric shapes.

As new creative director Anthony Vaccarello offers his first take on Saint Laurent today, we expect that the show’s beauty details will serve as a reminder that while some things change, many often stay the same. Here, a look back at the brand’s eternal commitment to all-out, achievable glamour.

 

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