Paris Fashion Week : Louis Vuitton, an anniversary show that leaves you "Raver"

Louis Vuitton brought Paris Fashion Week to a cosmic close, celebrating a decade of creation for Nicolas Ghesquière. True to the designer’s sensibility, this show, considered the best of his career, was conceived as an anthology of his two obsessions: science fiction and sportswear.

To celebrate his tenth anniversary as head of women’s design at Louis Vuitton, Nicolas Ghesquière invited 4,000 guests to retrace the steps of his career in an anniversary fashion show that resembled a galactic rave party.

The spectacular show, featuring giant disco balls set to electro music, drew another standing ovation for the 52-year-old Parisian, the second of its kind since his breathtaking Spring-Summer 2024 show at the future Hôtel Louis Vuitton on the Champs-Elysées.

A new dawn

In a fashion world marked by perpetual change, LVMH has opted for stability by renewing prodigy Nicolas Ghesquière’s tenure at the helm of the world’s leading luxury brand, Louis Vuitton, at the end of 2023 for a further five years. The designer has been at the helm of its women’s and accessories collections since 2014.

It was under a futuristic greenhouse in the courtyard of the Louvre that, on March 5, the artistic director chose to celebrate his debut at the Maison Louis Vuitton. The space was occupied by several spherical structures with luminous cables, the work of visual artist Philippe Parreno and producer-designer James Chinlund.

In all, 13 large futuristic chandeliers resembling spiky dystopian disco balls electrified the show. The largest of these evoked an unidentified flying object halfway between a data center and the “time machine” from HG. Wells’ novel. Like a mise en abîme of the designer’s inner connections, at the crossroads of art and fashion.

Under this XXL lighting, some sixty futuristic and baroque silhouettes with sportswear accents took to the catwalk, featuring neoprene or embroidered jackets, second-skin leggings, sequined dresses and satin jackets. A playful tribute to the House’s emblematic monogrammed trunks, Nicolas Ghesquière designed this season’s graphic trompe l’œil dresses with puzzle-like clasps and handles.

Accessories included bonnets with a pussyhat look (a bonnet with rabbit ears, a feminist protest symbol against Donald Trump’s policies), as well as yeti-sized stuffed gloves, perfect for hibernating while cryogenically frozen, or bouncing off the buzz of stuffed outfits on social networks.

If the stage show was total, it was nothing compared to the hysteria caused by the presence of three K-pop superstars. Much to the surprise of his fans, Felix Lee of the Stray Kids group took to the catwalk. The 23-year-old Australian-Korean rapper was joined by other ambassadors of the Land of Morning Calm: Jung Hoyeon, star of the Netflix series Squid Game, and Lisa from Blackpink.

In the audience were the designer’s supporters past and present. Alongside the House’s new ambassador, Saoirse Ronan, there were loyalists like actresses Léa Seydoux and Emma Stone, respectively faces of the brand since 2016 and 2017 . But there were also American actresses Lily Collins (Emily In Paris), Chloë Grace Moretz, Cate Blanchett, French actress Marina Foïs, British actress and American singer Kelly Rowland.

Even Catherine Deneuve, who had attended the same event ten years earlier, was at the party.