Amongst many surprising debuts this fashion month, Belgian designer Anthony Vaccarello remains a reliable source of showstoppers. Under the unmissable golden Eiffel Tower, which serves as the runway’s glittering backdrop, Monday’s Saint Laurent Summer 2026 collection was the perfect “bienvenue à la Paris Fashion Week.”

Vaccarello’s Saint Laurent woman is all-encompassing—heroine and classic—and she speaks through fashion. “In a time when dialogue is fading, style becomes a form of discourse,” writes the collection notes, “not one that imposes, but one that connects and adds nuance.”

Saint Laurent’s Summer 2026 collection combines defining moments of femininity from practically every period. Leather-clad Mapplethorpe princesses storm through the hydragas, their ’80s-style broad shoulders paired with knee-length skirts and retro hats of the same leather. The finale brought a parade of dresses, their ballooning sleeves and ethereal trains flowed in an elegant river of ambient shades—golden mustard, plum, tangerine, and celeste. Exaggerated peplums and many, many ruffles accentuate baby doll silhouette dresses, creating a look reminiscent of 16th-century gowns.

Though the Eiffel Tower was quite the sight, opulent white hydrangeas adorned the runway’s hedge centerpiece, forming the Cassandre “YSL” logo when viewed from above—the set epitomized French chic.

Courtesy of Saint Laurent

This Parisian fashion week debuted not only a fresh collection of Vaccarello’s finest, but also a triumphant return to the runway from Bella Hadid, wearing a gilded, translucent coat dress, bejeweled drop earrings, and large brown frames.

Full of ooo’s and ahh’s, the starry front row of unlikely pairings giggled and whispered. Hailey Bieber, Zoë Kravitz, Charli XCX, and Rosé sat shoulder to shoulder, while elsewhere, other gaggles of icons—including Catherine Deneuve, Jean-Paul Gaultier, and Kate Moss, along with Madonna and her daughter Lourdes Leon—mingled.

Courtesy of Saint Laurent