On 27 February 2012, Stefano Pilati bid farewell to Yves Saint Laurent, closing an eight-year chapter as the house’s visionary creative director. During his tenure, he injected a fresh, refined Parisian chic into YSL, modernizing its identity and leaving a lasting mark on contemporary fashion.
On 27 February 2012, Stefano Pilati bid farewell to Yves Saint Laurent, closing an eight-year chapter as the house’s visionary creative director. During his tenure, he injected a fresh, refined Parisian chic into YSL, modernizing its identity and leaving a lasting mark on contemporary fashion.
November 28, 2025
On 27 February 2012, Stefano Pilati bid farewell to Yves Saint Laurent, closing an eight-year chapter as the house’s visionary creative director. During his tenure, he injected a fresh, refined Parisian chic into YSL, modernizing its identity and leaving a lasting mark on contemporary fashion.
Born in Milan in 1965, Stefano Pilati showed an early instinct for tailoring and craftsmanship. At 17, he volunteered as a backstage assistant during fashion weeks. By 28, he joined Giorgio Armani - a foundation that shaped his approach to design.
Pilati entered Yves Saint Laurent in 2000 under Tom Ford, soon after the PPR acquisition. Ford had initially intended him for Gucci, yet intuition redirected him to YSL - a decision that would shift the house’s trajectory. In 2004, full creative authority was handed to Pilati, placing him at the helm of one of fashion’s most storied legacies.
As creative director, Pilati immersed himself completely in the universe of YSL. He oversaw advertising campaigns and designed up to twelve collections a year - twenty, including accessories. His clarity translated into numbers: in his first year, YSL’s revenue rose from €162 million. Moving away from Ford’s overt sensuality, in hindsight, this recalibration feels like one of Pilati’s most sophisticated moves.
His Spring/Summer 2005 tulip silhouette, initially dismissed as odd, became a customer favorite and soon a global trend. The wide square-buckled belt, the Muse bag, the Tribute sandals, the cage shoes of Spring/Summer 2009 - these were not just commercial successes but cultural markers. During his eight-year tenure at YSL, Stefano Pilati became synonymous with a refined, elegant aesthetic tinged with Parisian chic. His designs balanced sharp tailoring with sensuality, often blending leather, sleek silhouettes, and subtle detailing, creating collections that were simultaneously modern, sophisticated, and unmistakably stylish.
His fall 2012 farewell collection distilled this ethos: orchid tones of noir, burgundy, leaf green, and grey; tailored leather; vinyl and metal cut with near-surgical precision. “I exit the house with fierce conviction in all that we have achieved,” he told WWD.
After leaving YSL, Pilati joined Zegna Group in 2013 as creative director of Agnona and head of design at Ermenegildo Zegna. Stefano Pilati’s legacy at YSL is defined by the fresh wind he brought to the house: he redefined its aesthetic, infusing it with a refined, elegant Parisian chic while modernizing its identity. Over his eight years, Pilati reshaped YSL’s style language, balancing sensuality, sharp tailoring, and innovative materials, leaving a lasting imprint on the brand and embedding his influence in the vocabulary of contemporary fashion.
Stefano Pilati’s chapter at YSL may have closed, but his influence remains embedded in the house’s modern identity and in the vocabulary of contemporary fashion.
