And I understand that fact, in part, is part of the problem and the reason the collection received some bad reviews (and I say some because really, no one in fashion ever trashes a designer completely, at fear of not being invited back next season. No review is better than a bad review). Some said it was a bad regurgitation of what Topshop and Forever 21 have been doing for the past few years now, but let’s not ignore the fact that actually, Saint Laurent’s ‘grunge’ is something that’s been happening for the past few decades now, not a mere couple of seasons. From its birth from the grunge bands of Seattle in the late 80s and early 90s, it’s gone from subculture, to mainstream culture, to catwalk culture and back again: Marc Jacobs’attempt to bring grunge to high fashion at the Perry Ellis SS93 show (above) lost him his job and many so-called ‘grunge revivals’ since have been slammed by anyone who isn’t a teen or  early-twenty-something.

I guess it’s because, with the catwalk, we expect sophistication in many respects. Of course, micro-trends can come and go but elegance will be timeless whether you’re 18 or 80 and I entirely understand the threat this collection can be seen as to those die-hard enthusiasts of YSL’s, sorry, I mean Saint Laurent Paris’ classic Parisian charm.

But let us not forget that fashion is fashion. Trends change and are reinvented and come back again, and might be loved or hated, or maybe loved one season by a minority but loved by a majority the next. Fashion – and that extends to music, art and other cultural things outside clothes – is, more often than not, a force that drives forward through shock and effect: nothing would change if we were all to believe there was nothing wrong with everything the way it is right now.

I like this collection because, actually, wearing a pair of patterned tights or a flannel shirt is far more achievable in the real world on a real budget than attempting to trying to work a ‘fashionable’ gold studded, backless, low cut, unforgiving leotard into our wardrobes, say. And, pretty as ballgowns are, how often do we actually get to 1) wear them, or 2) even have the money to buy them. If fashion is a movement of the masses, let’s actually give Hedi some credit for giving us something that may possibly actually be worn by the masses, whether they consciously follow fashion or not.

I suppose I am biased as, being a city-living 19-year-old whose budget starts at ‘thrift shop’ and ends at ‘high street’, I’m exactly the market the likes of this ‘bad Topshop’ is catering for. But is that such a bad thing? No matter how many times they tell me neon-trousers suits are in style, the fact is this: I’m young, I want to have fun with what I wear and I’m never going to wear a suit for ‘fashion’ until I’m at least 30 because I would look like a 12-year-old dressing in my mother’s work clothes.

I live in the east end of London and plenty of people my age dress like this. It may not be ‘new’ but it’s current and, whatever the YSL legacy is, or was, or will go on to be, I like the collection and I’m sure I’m not the only one hiding in a mass of new-YSL-hating-fashion-clones who thinks so.

Right, let’s all go back to our lives now.

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