Hedi Slimane shows Saint Laurent couture during Paris Fashion Week

London - Of all the shows during Paris Fashion Week, it may well be the Saint Laurent show on Monday evening that will stay in fashion's memory the longest. The location was certainly as impressive as the collection itself, with Hedi Slimane opting for Hôtel de Sénecterre on rue de l'Universite which he handpicked as the new couture house for YSL, and which has been under renovation since 2013.

Instead of a catwalk and soundtrack, models descended an illustrious stairway to the voice of Bénédicte de Ginestous announcing the number of each outfit as she did for all YSL's couture shows between 1977 and 2002. This is the style of presentations back in the 80s, before the mass market catwalk replaced intimate presentations.

The clothes were made at the reinstated couture ateliers

And the clothes? They were "made at the reinstated couture ateliers in Paris and Angers," according to the show notes They were maximal exercises in minimal form, such as a sculpted swoop of classic couture shapes meshed with abbreviated dresses. The hemlines were unforgivingly short, as is notorious in Slimane's collections, but the near Helmut Newton-esque look of the 80s with the black sheer tights, bright red lipstick, giant bows and the slick hair made for an homage to Mr Saint Laurent that was beautifully faithful to both founder and Slimane's own youth aesthetic. Consider Saint Lauren'ts eponymous Le Smoking Classique that for next season was presented as a cropped jacket over a black sequinned jumpsuit.

While there has been no announcement regarding Slimane's contract at the house of Saint Laurent, the collection proved he is a force to be reckoned with, a visionary, who is a much as master of cloth and cut as he is of aesthetic and marketing.