Yves Saint Laurent: Stefano Pilati’s Moroccan Summer
By Staff Writer
Photos by FW

PARIS, Aug 13, 2005/ FW/ --- With a hint of Monsieur St. Laurent’s North African connection, Stefano Pilati chose Morocco as a major influence to his Spring / Summer 2006 YSL Rive Gauche collection for men.

Double-breasted suit jackets and double-breasted knitted cardigans with sailboat prints at the back remind one of Casablanca, the Moroccan seaside town made famous by the 1942 movie of the same title starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman.

For how can anyone forget that famous line, ‘Here’s looking at you kid,’ Rick Blaine’s (Humphrey Bogart) term of endearment to Elsa (Ingrid Bergman).

Loose fitting pants with three-piece tuxedos complete with vests and bow ties bring to life a 21st century Rick Blaine with all the suaveness and coolness that the character portrayed in wartime Casablanca.

But instead of running a bar, Rick Blaine sails around the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, making him a gentleman of leisure.

In bringing the old world to modern times, Stefano Pilati showed his mastery of tailoring techniques.

Subtle adornments as velvet pockets, curvy satin lapels and elasticized back of a safari jacket are European aesthetics made contemporary by using color and techno fabrics.

And with Humphrey Bogart’s Rick Blaine as his hero, you can expect him to be smooth, polished and sophisticated, too.

Yves Saint Laurent by Stefano Pilati

Yves Saint Laurent by Stefano Pilati

Yves Saint Laurent by Stefano Pilati

Yves Saint Laurent by Stefano Pilati