Anthony Vaccarello Exits Saint Laurent 10 Days After His Gilded Goodbye

At the end of Saint Laurent’s Sept. 29 show, Anthony Vaccarello pulled what looked like a set of keys from his pocket and handed it to his 5-year-old son, Luca. His PR called it a good-luck charm, WWD reported. Dazed read it as him symbolically “returning the keys” to the house.

Ten days later, the house made it official. Saint Laurent announced on Friday (Oct. 9) that Vaccarello is leaving after 10 years as creative director, crediting him in a brief statement with “helping to strengthen its identity and influence across the worlds of fashion and culture.” New creative leadership will be announced “soon,” the house said.

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Vaccarello took over from Hedi Slimane in 2016, and the business grew with him: annual sales nearly tripled under him, peaking at €3.3 billion, according to Hypebeast, and Saint Laurent has ranked in the Lyst Index’s top five for 10 straight quarters. Sales have cooled since. Revenue slipped 6% to €2.64 billion in 2025 at comparable exchange rates, though Kering says Saint Laurent returned to growth in the first half of 2026. On a call with analysts, Kering said the decision was about the house’s longer-term prospects, not recent results, according to a Barclays note cited by WWD.

Through his creative vision and exacting standards, he has contributed to strengthening the enduring influence of one of France’s greatest couture houses, as we embark on a new chapter in its history.

Luca de Meo, Kering CEO, WWD

Vaccarello’s Saint Laurent lived after dark. His womenswear shows, mostly staged in the open air at the Trocadéro, ended as the Eiffel Tower’s lights began to sparkle, and his menswear traveled from a Malibu beach to the Moroccan desert. In 2023 he launched Saint Laurent Productions, which Wallpaper* calls the first time a fashion house had acted as a film producer. Its slate includes Jacques Audiard’s Oscar-winning Emilia Pérez, Jim Jarmusch’s Father Mother Sister Brother and David Cronenberg’s The Shrouds.

Musicians were never far from his runway. WWD counts Madonna, ROSÉ and Charlotte Gainsbourg in his inner circle, and his last show drew ROSÉ, Post Malone and Mark Ronson, with RIIZE’s Anton in the house’s own guest reel. At the finale, Gainsbourg left her seat, took a microphone and serenaded him on the runway. Then Vaccarello walked out and hugged her while the audience stood and applauded.

Vaccarello hasn’t issued a statement of his own, per Wallpaper*. He had already gone quiet before the show, skipping the usual backstage chat with journalists and sending them dark purple flowers and a handwritten note.

It’s very personal for me, charged with emotion, so this time I’d rather not say too much and let you experience all its shades.

Anthony Vaccarello, in a note to journalists before the show, WWD

The shades turned out to be gold. Of the collection’s 59 looks, 49 were gilded, Dazed counted, from trench coats and safari jackets to pencil skirts, before a closing run of black. Watch his final show for the house below.

SAINT LAURENT – Women’s Summer 27 ShowSaint Laurent · Watch on YouTube ↗

Saint Laurent hasn’t named a successor. WWD reports that Chloé creative director Chemena Kamali is widely expected to get the job. She knows the house: she was its women’s ready-to-wear design director under Vaccarello from 2016 until 2023. Whoever takes over will be pointed at women’s daywear, menswear, high-end leather goods and China and the rest of Asia, according to the Barclays note.

Vaccarello hasn’t said what he’ll do next, but his November is already booked. He’s due to receive the CFDA’s International Designer of the Year award in New York on Nov. 2, and he’s one of six nominees for Designer of the Year at the Fashion Awards in London on Nov. 30. The second line of his final show notes already reads like a sign-off: “What passes sometimes leaves more light than what remains.”