Vuitton show a step closer to art
Creative director Nicolas Ghesquiere showcases collection full of historical and streetwear references
Aime Maeght, the art dealer who fled Nazi-occupied Paris for the balmier climes of the French Riviera, is generally revered around those parts, not least for building his Fondation Maeght, a stunning modernist masterpiece by the Catalan architect Josep Sert, perched in the hills by SaintPaul de Vence, and then stuffing it with work by his proteges and friends.
Locals admired him for enshrining the south of France’s artistic reputation. Artists adored him for conferring instant status (and high prices) on their work. For all these reasons and more, the foundation is the perfect spot for a 21st century fashion designer with one eye fixed firmly on posterity and one foot planted in popular culture.
Nicolas Ghesquiere, Louis Vuitton’s creative director, is that man — and clocking the historical, cultural and streetwear references in his collections has become an adrenalin-soaked spectator sport.
The gold trimmed thigh-high trainerboots; the flame tattoos painted on to the models’ third eyes, the jewel speckled flapper dresses, the Edwardian sprigged tunics, the space-age visor-sunglasses, the Paisley-esque printed silks, mixed with stripes and Vuitton’s sequinned Damier check, the Nineties lingerie-dresses, the Eighties batwings and bloated, rounded shoulder-lines — or were they a nod to Miro’s hefty sculptures dotted throughout those lush gardens?
And what was that? A bag decorated with Grace Coddington’s charming cat illustrations? Ghesquiere isn’t even a cat person, being more canine-inclined. But it turns out he has wanted to collaborate with American Vogue’s former fashion director for years. The show’s soundtrack was peppered with snatches of narrative from Coddington’s autobiography, voiced by the actress Jennifer Connelly, a longtime muse of Ghesquiere’s. Connelly was there, watching the show too, alongside Sienna Miller, Ruth Negga and Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner.
It’s a bold, self-asserting declaration — fashion as art — and has become a central pillar of Vuitton’s identity. But Ghesquiere’s clothes suit a museum context. There’s something monumental about their non-conformity — this collection, especially, “was about celebrating eccentricity,” he says.