The Apolline slingback isn’t subtle, and Teyana Taylor didn’t need it to be at the Saint Laurent show during Paris Fashion Week on Monday. The Saint Laurent pump’s pinched toe and curved heel carried Anthony Vaccarello’s front-row message of toughness sharpened into glamour.
Cut in marron glacé patent leather with a flash of ocre at the insole, the Apolline extends Saint Laurent’s slingback lineage into more aggressive territory. Its vamp dips low, while the sharply tapered point angles inward before ending in a severe pinch — a silhouette that feels closer to a blade than a pump. A slanted stiletto in blackened metal cements the architectural profile of the $2,500 silhouette.
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Taylor wore the style with sheer nylons, anchoring an outfit pulled entirely from the house: a belted trench in acid green, layered over a plum turtleneck and finished with teal leather gloves. Gold hoops and a blunt bob framed the look.
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As WWD’s Miles Socha noted in his review, Vaccarello’s spring 2026 show was “as YSL as possible,” unfolding under the Eiffel Tower with what he described as “provocative femininity.” That duality — louche by day, countess by night — was built into the Apolline. Its pinched point telegraphed severity, while the slingback cut left the foot exposed, amplifying the tension between restraint and seduction.
The Apolline also reinforced a wider Saint Laurent moment. The Vendôme slingback appeared on both the runway and in the front row, worn by Madonna and Lourdes Leon in matching patent iterations. Together, the styles hammered home Vaccarello’s strategy: sharpen the classics, then multiply them across every vantage point.
For Taylor, the Apolline marked a pivot from the volume-heavy statements she’s favored all month. She towered in Marc Jacobs’ Kiki platforms at the NikeSkims launch, tested Off-White’s optical-illusion pumps on the “One Battle After Another” press circuit and flashed Chanel’s pearl-heeled boots at Bleu de Chanel’s fragrance party. Saint Laurent brought her back to precision — a slingback defined by line, angle and edge, sharpened into the house’s core vocabulary.