“It’s like when you’ve been in the club and you’re still kind of hearing the music for a good hour, but you’re already on your way to your really important, maybe life-changing meeting that could give you an amazing career boost,” explained Ludovic de Saint Sernin backstage, insisting this is not a personally familiar scenario. “It is more a fantasy than an experience.”
For his label’s return to the Paris women’s calendar—he had switched to men’s for several seasons, then there was his one-off New York stint, followed by a pause to focus on his couture guest collection for Jean Paul Gaultier—de Saint Sernin was back today in a steamy way. But more suited up, too.

Titled L’Entretien, French for interview, the premise was neither realistic nor camp. Instead, it was like a parallel world where Angelina Kendall, who opened the show, might arrive for a pitch dressed in a black suit with a leather bustier. Corporate kink served up LdSS style also included a guy wearing Prince of Wales trousers and a matching laced corset in lieu of a classic vest; a business shirt cut as a halter paired with a leather tie; and an eyelet bra and pencil skirt in motor-car green. If companies are reinstating return-to-office mandates, why not make Fridays more exciting with a latex bustier dress?

Musing aside, de Saint Sernin explained that the latex was custom developed, and the fit was pretty flawless. He also introduced python and plush shearling reined in by Alaïa-esque corset belts—no ambiguity that this was exec-level signaling. Three looks midway through in tones of camel and coffee were like an LdSS spin on Loro Piana.

Now that de Saint Sernin is in his mid-30s and has designed for two houses other than his own, perhaps his style is maturing alongside higher expectations of himself. “You dress a certain part for what you want to get. And for me, I didn’t want to compromise on who I am, what my values are, what I stand for,” he said, wearing a flowy coat over a shirt in the same graphic lace that Kylie Jenner wore in dress form to the Vanity Fair Oscar Party last week.

If an office theme might be a charged place for his continuing explorations of gender and sexuality, de Saint Sernin seemed more focused on equal-opportunity ambition and a work-hard-play-hard mindset. As for the state of kink in 2025, he suggested “being fearless with what you desire.” Could be a person, could be a promotion.