Saint Laurent Partners With Wong Kar-wai on SELF 05 Film, 'A Night in Shanghai'

Saint Laurent has tapped Wong Kar-wai for the fifth edition of the brand’s SELF series, which seeks to “capture different aspects of the Saint Laurent personality” through artists that are hand-picked by creative director Anthony Vaccarello. For Kar-wai’s SELF 05 creation, the Chinese artist curated a film titled A Night in Shanghai, a piece that seeks to explore self-reflection and the process of finding balance in life.

The short movie was directed by Wing Shya and stars model Ju Xiaowen, who illustrates the journey of self-discovery as she finds ways to express herself freely. Throughout the scenes the collaborators sought to merge the “traditional feeling of Shanghai” with “contemporary Saint Laurent,” playing off of the two concepts in order to create a harmonious visual.

“Saint Laurent is unique, distinctive among high fashion. Anthony loves art and his designs worn gorgeously, and stays independent,” said Kar-wai. “Saint Laurent is always about ‘breaking the balance’ in this era, like no one else, the brand is brave in expressing itself.”

Vaccarello shares similar sentiments, stating “Wong Kar-wai envisions individual feelings; his art is like a vivid dream projected into real life, which emphasizes the contrast between the fragile aspect of humanity and reality.” He added: “It was a very instinctive process based on mutual respect and admiration, in the movie you can find and feel the Saint Laurent fantasy taking shape as natural consequence.”

Saint Laurent SELF 05 follows behind installments with artists including Daido Moriyama, Vanessa Beecroft, Bret Easton Ellis and Gaspar Noé. Scroll above now to see A Night in Shanghai, which will be screened from November 22 to November 24 exclusively at the Yuz Museum in Shanghai.

Elsewhere for the French label, its Rive Droite concept store recently partnered with Leica on a rare camera exhibition.