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An anniversary show signed off Paris Fashion Week, reports Jane McFarland
THE BIGGEST BRAND of all? It’s arguably Louis Vuitton. During the run-up to Nicolas Ghesquière’s 10th anniversary show, the fashion rumour mill was in overdrive. Lady Brigitte Macron would attend. (She wore a pair of skinny leather pants and tailored black dress coat).
Zendaya, a newly crowned brand ambassador, would perform. (She didn’t). 4,000 people would be given tickets. (True – 2,000 were Louis Vuitton employees). But LV doesn’t need a gimmick nor viral stunt to create a show moment – last year, it became the first brand to surpass €20bn (£17bn) in sales, and in November 2023, Ghesquière signed a further five years as artistic director of womenswear. Few designers can claim to have worked at one of Europe’s top brands for 10+ years, but the LV/Ghesquière partnership is a bonafide success story. And judging by the guests, the majority of whom were decked out in archival Ghesquière designs, he’s built both a loyal following of fashion fans, while juggling a commercial juggernaut. Further proof the brand is on a winning streak? Ghesquière dressed both Oscar winners, Emma Stone (Best Actress) and Da’Vine Joy Randolph (Best Supporting Actress), in custom looks.
In the centre of the Louvre’s Cour Carrée – the significance being that it was the same place Ghesquière presented his first collection exactly 10 years previously – hung a glittering sci-fi installation by artist Philippe Parreno. Much like the debut show back in 2014, a typewritten letter was placed on all 4,000 seats. This time around he said, ‘Ten years ago, you came to my first show for Louis Vuitton. I remember the feeling of “beginning”, the immense joy I felt to be among you. This joy is still here. Ten years later, this evening is a new dawn…’
The show’s palette-cleansing opening looks combined technicality with sportswear; the two-tone windbreakers and techy tracksuits looked cool and street ready. Then, ‘bearing witness to a decade of fashion’, he chose to reflect on key pieces from the tenure – not quite a Greatest Hits, but certainly a nostalgic rifle through the archive. The embroidered metallic jackets harked back to the futuristic frock coats from spring’s 2018 collection. The bubble-hem, spring skirts, which bounced as models stomped the runway, recalled the spring 2021 show. Felix, of the K-pop band Stray Kids, walked in an embroidered white turtleneck and metallic track pants. Ghesquière referenced LV’s heritage as a luggage label, with a boxy minidress printed with trompe-l’oeil trunk details. Nearly all the looks were accompanied by ankle boots, furry paw mittens, and scratched-up miniature trunks.
The show notes read, ‘one detects a tinge of earlier affinities, felicitous imprints of beloved
