designboom · Creativity & design

Saint Laurent SS27 Show Recreates Historic Ballroom at Trocadéro

For its Spring Summer 2027 womenswear show, Saint Laurent, under the creative direction of Anthony Vaccarello, transformed the Trocadéro in Paris into a runway inspired by the house's historic haute couture presentations.

The set design by Bureau Betak featured three monumental chandeliers, recalling the ballroom of the Hôtel InterContinental where Yves Saint Laurent previously held his shows. This recreated an enclosed, ceremonial atmosphere, but was opened up to the city with the Eiffel Tower as a backdrop.

Instead of a direct replica, the design extracted key elements: theatrical lighting, a formal runway, symmetry, and a warm golden glow. The oversized chandeliers created a temporary ceiling in the open air, abstracting the interior design code into urban scenography.

The ballroom reference is tied to Saint Laurent's history of using the Hôtel InterContinental for his couture collections. Vaccarello maintained the formality but placed it in a vast public setting, incorporating Paris itself into the design.

The chandeliers acted as temporary architectural elements, establishing points of light above the runway while keeping the cityscape visible. This approach balanced nostalgia with spectacle, avoiding a mere period room recreation.

Gold was a unifying element, present in both the collection's materials (lamé, brocade, metallic surfaces) and the set's lighting. This created a dialogue between the garments, the runway, and the scenography.

The installation enlarged and relocated a historical Saint Laurent motif, transforming a ballroom into an outdoor room and chandeliers into urban-scale objects. The Paris skyline replaced traditional decorated walls, making the historical reference visible from afar.

AI-samenvatting op basis van de bron.