In the Mood for Love. Chungking Express. 2046. Wong Kar Wai’s films have consistently pushed the boundaries of Chinese cinema, against the backdrop of iridescent, kaleidoscopic colours and slow-motion shots imbued with effervescent, atmospheric feeling.

So after provocative auteurs like Bret Easton Ellis and Gaspar Noé, the Chinese auteur was the natural choice to curate the fifth installment of Saint Laurent’s SELF series. Directed by Hong Kong photographer Wing Shya, Saint Laurent SELF 05 presents A Night In Shanghai, a story about introspectively discovering our true selves and defying the status quo. Saint Laurent meets Shanghai in the campaign’s trailer, which evokes all the emotions of a Wong Kar Wai film, with the vivid, visceral colour palette reminiscent of both the auteur’s signature cinematography and the boundary-breaking MO of Saint Laurent.

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

From one brave industry disrupter to another, Vaccarello, creative director of Saint Laurent, returns the praise for Wong Kar Wai: “[he] 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. 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”.

The SELF 05 short film will premiere exclusively in an immersive screen installation at Shangai art district’s Yuz Museum, from 22nd-24th November. Find out more at ysl.com.