For Summer 2025, Saint Laurent steps away from the conventional fashion campaign and enters the sphere of fine art. Under Anthony Vaccarello’s direction, Saint Laurent enlisted Francesco Clemente to interpret the collection through a series of portraits. The resulting works feature actor-musicians Zoë Kravitz and Isabella Ferrari alongside models Penelope Ternes and Ajus Samuel, each rendered with Clemente’s signature lyricism.
SPRING 2025
Clemente, known for exploring dualities such as the spiritual and physical or the feminine and masculine, uses his portraits of the Summer 2025 talents to go beyond simply showcasing clothing. Anthony Vaccarello’s collaboration with Clemente signals his wider vision for Saint Laurent, building stronger links between fashion and the arts. “I first discovered Clemente’s work in the 1990s,” Vaccarello shared. “I could perfectly imagine my collection being portrayed by his poetic use of colors.”
Clemente, whose career has included collaborations with figures like Andy Warhol, Allen Ginsberg, and Alfonso Cuarón, has long maintained an artistic practice grounded in hybridity. His paintings for Saint Laurent, created in partnership with the Vito Schnabel Gallery, continue that lineage, placing fashion within a wider matrix of artistic inquiry. “There is only one language of form and it is the same as the language of tenderness,” he observes, a feeling mirrored in the gentle strength with which the subjects are captured.
The campaign thus operates on two levels, as a showcase for the season’s wardrobe and as a standalone series of artworks. The clothes, as seen through Clemente’s palette, feel less like commodities and more like second selves, each carrying a distinct sense of presence and emotion. With this project, Vaccarello reinforces his interest in expanding the visual culture around Saint Laurent. Through Clemente’s brush, the Summer 2025 collection moves beyond the runway into a softened world where artistic memory and modern womanhood meet. In an era of overwhelming content flood, this quiet and painterly approach feels not just radical, but necessary.
