Louis Vuitton’s Sun-Kissed Cruise 2023 Collection
The collection was presented in San Diego, and the sun, shining with all its brilliance, took centre stage for this poetic presentation
In another epic staging of his cruise collection for Louis Vuitton, Nicolas Ghesquière once again transported us back to the future. ‘Ever since I started showing cruise collections for the house, I wanted the common thread to be an architectural journey,’ says Nicolas, and this time the destination of choice was the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California. Designed in 1965 by Louis Kahn, Salk is an architectural monolith dedicated to state-of-the-art biomedical research. The futuristic and minimalistic look of the buildings ended up acting as a sharp and appealing counterpoint to the collection.
As cruise shows straddle two seasons, it naturally has the longest retail shelf life, and the necessity of functionality and wearability was not lost on Nicolas, who employed the use of airy fabrics such as linen, silk cloqué and cotton in her offering and they added a focus on layering throughout the line-up.
The show was broken up into two chapters. The first was filled with flowing silhouettes that were inspired by the natural beauty of the desert. The second turned its gaze towards the heavens and the warmth of the sun. This, non-coincidentally, also happens to be the focal point of Salk’s structural design.
The power of the sun was reflected in clothing that featured a metallic palette; metallic jacquard, denim and embroidery were all interwoven into the garments. Metallic detailing was also used on the handbags and reflective strips embellished the shoes like mini solar panels. So that, when the models marched defiantly down the catwalk to the tune of pop-opera music by the Sparks, the clothes danced in harmony with the ripple effect of the sun setting into the distant horizon of the Pacific Ocean.
With this show, the boundless reaches of scientific discovery and the limitless frontiers of human creativity fused into a singular moment. And for a brief instance, an ecosystem bubbling with human ingenuity and potential materialised before the audience’s eyes.
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