Known for producing films that careen from martial arts epics to romantic comedies with enigmatic plotlines, Chinese director Wong Kar Wai curates the fifth installment of SELF, a multidisciplinary arts project conceived by Saint Laurent Artistic Director Anthony Vaccarello. Like its predecessors, A Night In Shanghai evokes the fashion house’s attitude of confidence, individuality and self-expression. Directed by Wing Shya, one of Hong Kong’s leading photographers, this is a story about one woman’s search for self-actualization as she, literally and figuratively, walks a tightrope between her true and performative selves. 

"His art is like a vivid dream projected into real life"
–Anthony Vaccarello

“Wong Kar Wai envisions individual feelings,” says Vaccarello. “His art is like a vivid dream projected into real life, which emphasizes the contrast between the fragile aspect of humanity and reality.” This film’s iridescent color palette is evocative of Kar Wai’s award-winning cinematography, which uses lens blur and slow-motion to create operatic vignettes of passion and loss. A Night In Shanghai is an exquisitely executed visual portrait of the contemporary spirit of Saint Laurent encountering the traditional heart of China. 

"Saint Laurent, like no other brand, is brave in expressing itself"
 –Wong Kar Wai

“Saint Laurent is unique and distinctive among high fashion. Anthony loves art, and his designs, worn gorgeously, stay independent,” says Kar Wai. “Saint Laurent, like no other brand, is brave in expressing itself.” 

Kar Wai joins a growing cast of freethinking artists, photographers and filmmakers, such as Daido Moriyama, Vanessa Beecroft, Bret Easton Ellis and Gaspar Noé, who have collaborated with Vaccarello on previous iterations of SELF. “It was a very instinctive process based on mutual respect and admiration,” says Vaccarello. “You can find and feel the Saint Laurent fantasy taking shape as a natural consequence.”