Behold: New Look Saint Lauren

What can we expect from Anthony Vaccarello in his new role as creative director of Saint Laurent? One word: sexy.

Or at least, that was the general consensus, informed by Vaccarello's own description of his debut collection - "it's always black, it's always sexy"; by Donatella Versace's synopsis of his work when he was designing the Versus line - "sexy, dynamic, audacious"; and by Vogue's anointing of the 34-year-old designer as chief purveyor of "the new sexy" back in December 2013 - specifically, his "potent cocktail of three parts sex, one part slouch".

Slits, splits, slashes - since he replaced Hedi Slimane in April, much has been made of Vaccarello's penchant for torso-tight silhouettes that render underwear entirely redundant. How to square Slimane's painstakingly assembled sulky grunge aesthetic with the bombast of Vaccarello, a designer who says things like "legs are beautiful and it's a shame to hide them" and has a harem of angels on hand - Gisele Bundchen, Alessandra Ambrosio, Anja Rubik - to prove him right?

Nudity is the answer - that's the takeaway from the new, Vaccarello-approved Saint Laurent campaign, unveiled in teasers last week and this (quite literally - one Instagram image depicted a white box with a tiny square of bare collarbone). New look Saint Laurent comprises 15 hitherto-unknown models stripped down to their birthday suits, with only a boob tube on hand to spare their blushes. An ad campaign for a fashion brand, featuring virtually no fashion? As a metaphor for wiping the slate clean, this is pretty heavy handed - and one that squares with the bizarre strategy to wipe the Saint Laurent Instagram account to remove all trace of Slimane.

No leopard print, no sequins, no Joni Mitchell a-strumming - this is new look Saint Laurent, as clean as a Japanese subway, as no-frills as a Ryanair cabin interior. In one image, the camera focuses on seventeen-year-old Nigerian model Mayowa Nicholas' exemplary jawline; in another five-second-long video, topless sixteen-year-old Dutch model Mattia Creanza turns slowly towards the lens.

This is a new kind of sexy for Vaccarello - the kind that doesn't require multiple lengths of leather strapping exposing acres of polished thigh. As for new Saint Laurent - it's still whippet-thin and elementarily-young, but somehow it feels more…French. Still no sign of Yves though.