YSL x Francesco Clemente: A Poetic Dialogue Between Fashion and Art
For its Summer 2025 campaign, Saint Laurent unveils a striking collaboration with celebrated Italian artist Francesco Clemente. Known for his dreamlike brushstrokes and explorations of identity, Clemente was invited by creative director Anthony Vaccarello to reinterpret the season’s spirit through a series of portraits. The result is a body of work that captures not just clothing, but the essence of individuality itself.
Clemente turns his gaze to actors Zoë Kravitz and Isabella Ferrari, alongside models Penelope Ternes and Ajus Samuel. Each portrait is rendered with a softness that radiates strength, intimacy, and quiet authority. Through layered color and expressive detail, Clemente transforms his subjects into symbolic figures—at once personal and universal—embodying a nuanced vision of femininity that aligns seamlessly with the elegance of Saint Laurent.
Vaccarello, who has consistently invited artists across disciplines to shape Saint Laurent’s creative dialogue, saw in Clemente’s work a natural kinship with the Summer 2025 collection. “Francesco’s emotive use of color, his way of collapsing the boundaries between spirit and matter, felt like the perfect echo of the season,” he notes. The collaboration brings painting into conversation with fashion, underscoring how both mediums can redefine the way we perceive strength, sensuality, and presence.
Clemente’s journey as an artist began in the 1970s and has been profoundly shaped by travel and cultural exchange. From India to New York, each environment left its mark on his evolving visual language. His works often explore dualities—masculine and feminine, spiritual and material—offering meditations on identity and transformation. Over the decades, he has collaborated with some of the most influential figures in contemporary culture, including Andy Warhol, poet Allen Ginsberg, and filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón, for whom he created art for the 1993 film Great Expectations.
By partnering with Clemente, Saint Laurent once again affirms its role as a house deeply engaged with the cultural avant-garde. The Summer 2025 campaign, produced in collaboration with Vito Schnabel Gallery, blurs boundaries between art and fashion, suggesting that both can serve as mirrors to identity and imagination. Each portrait is not simply an image—it is a world, one where Saint Laurent’s timeless codes meet Clemente’s lyrical vision.
With this campaign, Vaccarello continues to expand Saint Laurent’s dialogue with contemporary art, weaving new narratives that celebrate creativity without borders. In Clemente’s hands, the Saint Laurent woman becomes more than a muse—she is a symbol, a story, a presence that resonates far beyond the frame.
Art Direction: Anthony Vaccarello
Artist: Francesco Clemente
In collaboration with: Vito Schnabel Gallery
Talents: Zoë Kravitz, Isabella Ferrari, Penelope Ternes, Ajus Samuel
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