Louis Vuitton's autumn/winter collection asks the mighty question: What is French style?
There's a magnetism and mystery to French style that endlessly intrigues. According to Louis Vuitton, it lies in its paradox: "sophistication with a dilettante's air". It's an enigma, a trompe l'oeil, never failing to captivate.
To dive into this je ne sais quoi, creative director Nicolas Ghesquière brought us back to the vaulted salons of the Musée d'Orsay, where artists Philippe Parreno and production designer James Chinlund brought to life a Paris street, complete with dogs, cars and clicking heels on cobbled streets in the sound design by Nicolas Becker.
And in response to the enigmatic question, Ghesquière delivers the Tricolore in blue, white and red details, a nod to the Opéra Garnier in the illuminated masks, and a wink at the Cinq à Sept with dressing gowns, pyjamas, and faux fur shorts. More enigma lies in the details though: a camel coat (look 14) appears to be wool, but is actually leather, first embossed, then printed. The pinstripes on a pair of leather jeans, meanwhile, were painted by hand and then stitched with sequins, and thousands upon thousands of tiny metal coils, or cannetilles, were required to achieve the three-dimensional embroideries on the spiderweb dresses.
See the full collection below:
Louis Vuitton - AW23
