Saint Laurents Anthony Vaccarello will have averybusy time at theCannes Film Festivalthis year.
What follows is a conversation with Vaccarello in the lead-up to Cannes.
Emilia Perezfrom Jacques Audiard.
These days, Anthony Vaccarello doesn’t just have his eye on fashion, but also film, with three Saint Laurent Productions at the Cannes Film Festival.
It is very different from what he has done in the past, says Anthony Vaccarello.
I wasnt a fan of everything they did, but their films that were strange were my thing.
Its a kind of beautiful: a dirty beautiful.
Emilia Perezfrom Jacques Audiard. “It is very different from what he has done in the past,” says Anthony Vaccarello.
Which of their films did you particularly like?
Ive never been able to work up the courage to watch it.
I know its not exactly a comfortable viewing experience.
“If you love his films, you love Pedro Almodóvar,” says Vaccarello of the legendary Spanish director.
Its strongand it is related to what is happening today, I think.
And from Fassbinder, I mean: all of them.
Yeah, I love that.
On the set ofStrange Way of Life—with (left to right) Ethan Hawke, Pedro Almodóvar, and Pedro Pascal—the movie that Saint Laurent not only costumed, but was the first the house produced.
Was that the question, or no?
But he never produced films.
I know youve become good friends with Catherine Deneuve.
Vaccarello is a huge David Cronenberg fan.Crashis an obsession of his. Cronenberg’s latest,The Shrouds, is a Saint Laurent Production.
Have you talked with her about getting into the film world?
Yeahshe was like, Its brave, and its a good thing for cinema.
Its cool to change the rules.
“A new Fellini,” Vaccarello says of Sorrentino, the director who brought usThe Great Beauty—and now,Parthenope.
Talk to me a little about setting up Saint Laurent Productions.
So it started slowly like that: a little clip of a film lasting four, five minutes.
Then I met Gaspar Noe, and we became very close.
Being there with Gaspar and Beatrice was an important moment.
It went super well, and we thought,Okaylets continue to make that dream come true.
Could you talk a little more about the impulse to work with specific directors?
My role [at Saint Laurent Productions] is to choose which filmmaker.
We build it like that.
The directors we work with are masters in their field.
For us at Saint Laurent, it gives us new ways to communicate.
In doing those films, the name of Saint Laurent stays forever.
If you love his films, you love Pedro Almodovar, says Vaccarello of the legendary Spanish director.
You mentioned you were a long-term fan of Almodovars.
What was it like meeting him for the first time?
We met at the Sunset Marquis [in Los Angeles].
Are you checking in with the directors whose movies youre producingtexting or calling them to ask how its going?
It depends on the relationshipwith Pedro or Jim, yes.
Id like to ask you about the costuming of the Almodovar movie.
What was that process like?
Thats what we did with the other filmmakers as well: We would go through the archives.
But most of the costuming was custom and specific to the movie and the character.
They are three very different movies and three very different directors, all very deep into their careers.
Is it important that the filmmakers you work with are already well-established?
But Id like to extend what we do to young directors in the future.
Vaccarello is a huge David Cronenberg fan.Crashis an obsession of his.
Cronenberg’s latest,The Shrouds, is a Saint Laurent Production.
I know youre a David Cronenberg fan.
From what I have heard ofThe Shrouds, it sounds like it has his trademark creepiness, yes?
Its very him, its very… his films always have that weird technology-meets-the-human-body thing.
And what drew you to Sorrentino and Audiard?
Its never a cliche.
The same for Paolo Sorrentino.
For me, it was like working with a new Fellini.
I like the poetry of the scriptsomething that seemed light and easy, but that was just the surface.
Something more deep was there between the lines.
Its a very emotional film, probably his most emotional so far.
A new Fellini, Vaccarello says of Sorrentino, the director who brought usThe Great Beautyand now,Parthenope.
Is there anyone else you would love to work with?
Of anyone I would love to work with, its Martin Scorsese.
I met him during an Oscars after-party, and he was super inspiring.
For me, hes a master of the mastersI would love to do something with him.
And of course, Francis Ford Coppola.
Lastly, I would love to know: Whats it like seeing your name on the movie credits?
There was a little tear.
