A muse both to Yves Saint Laurent and later Tom Ford, it’s anyone’s guess how the iconic Betty Catroux is only now making her campaign debut, in her 70s, but such is the coup that Saint Laurent has performed this week.

Shot in black and white by David Sims (the same lensman who photographed Kate Moss last year for the Spring 18 campaign), Catroux “perfectly embodies the Saint Laurent woman” according to the accompanying press notes, a performance which presumably comes naturally to the woman with whom Yves enjoyed a tight friendship with from 1967 until his death in 2008.

Dressed in key pieces from Anthony Vaccarello’s AW18 collection – read: an on point leather jacket, black sunglasses, another chic jacket and an embellished blazer – the campaign presents a Catroux that is true to the model’s independent spirit.