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Saint Laurent is “showing” its men’s spring ’21 collection on September 9. The inverted commas are due to the cryptic nature of the press release FN received in its inbox this morning.

Yes, the news comes literally shrouded in smoke. Albeit smoke of a particularly pretty shade of (flamingo) pink.

Alongside the date, the Parisian house has released various teaser films and images involving pink smoke (and also some in baby blue) plus pink, white and blue flags fluttering in the breeze. These follow earlier shots of Saint Laurent billboards in similar pastels amid a palm tree backdrop which suggests a Los Angeles setting.

The new images and footage of the flags are backdropped by a beach or vast skyline possibly recalling America’s West Coast.

Taken together one might assume that L.A. will be the location of the show. However, considering Celine’s Hedi Slimane filmed his own men’s 21 show on a Marseilles race track — made to resemble Los Angeles via some clever cinematography it’s anyone’s guess. As will whether it is to go off with or without a physical audience.

Saint Laurent’s Paris Fashion Week runway show held in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower was always a key fixture on the city’s schedule.

In July Saint Laurent also released a campaign shot by David Sims and featuring the film director John Waters whose movies include a cult title called “Pink Flamingos.” This may or may not be relevant.

The 1972 film stars drag queen Divine and is too naughty on which to elaborate further. You might want to Google it but would not advise playing YouTube clips in the office. Either way it created quite a stir.

Kering-owned brand Saint Laurent created a ripple effect in April when it announced its intention to reshape its show schedule. At the time it released a statement saying that it planned to present its collections according to its “own rhythm.”

However, after announcing that he would not show in line with the traditional 2020 calendar, creative director Anthony Vaccarello left his plans open ended in terms of when and how collections will be presented going forward.

Watch the teaser below.