Sci-fi meets retro cool
A dramatic Palm Springs backdrop propels Ghesquière’s Vuitton visions
PALMSPRINGS— French luxury label Louis Vuitton headed to Palm Springs in early May to put on a retro futuristic runway show outside the Bob and Dolores Hope estate overlooking the Coachella Valley.
Kanye West, Selena Gomez, Catherine Deneuve and Michelle Williams were among the 550 guests who traveled from as far away as China, Japan and Australia to see artistic director Nicolas Ghesquière’s women’s 2016 cruise collection at what the designer described as “the castle of the city.”
The 23,000-square-foot home, with its distinctive, spaceship-like pavilion, was a natural fit for Ghesquière’s sci-fi vision. The Hopes commissioned Modernist architect John Lautner tobuild it in1973, and itwas completed in1980.
After being shuttled up winding Southridge Drive, guests arrived to see the balcony peopled by models glammed out in makeup like David Bowie on the cover of his1973 “Aladdin Sane” album. Vuitton’s distinctive gongs rang through the air, creating a Zen mood. The vista, the models, the late afternoon Palm Springs shadows: It was a scene ready-madefor social media.
The photo ops continued inside the house, which has been on the market since 2013 and remains unsold even though the price has been slashed more than 50% to the current $25 million. The angles of the glass wall spanning the length of the house, the oculus-like opening of Lautner’s design that was built to resemble a volcano, the sweet and lush Garth Benton jungle mural behind the bar — it was all new eye candy to the jaded fashion crowd.
Champagne was served, and then the doors slid open to reveal the entire swath of the Coachella Valley as a welcome mat. In the backyard, 2,500 square feet of grass had been temporarily removed to create the runway showspace.
A camera-equipped drone hovered overhead, capturing every moment for the brand’s live stream — the real future meeting the one imagined in a Modernist past.
“It’s nice to break with what’s traditional and inspire people,” mused Gomez, who was attending her third Louis Vuitton show and was dressed in the brand’s embroidered leather and mesh minidress. “The drive out here, coming up to the house, itwas all so peaceful.”
Indeed, the experience was quite peaceful compared with the frenetic pace of the twice-yearly Paris Fashion Week, when spring and fall ready-to-wear shows take place back-to-back, on the hour.
A cruise collection like this one is shown more casually in the spring, with the clothes arriving in stores in November and meant to fill the gap between fall-winter and spring collections, which start arriving in July and February, respectively. Originally designed for the wealthy client who might be traveling to warm climes inwinter, cruise collections have taken on more importance in recent years as marketing vehicles for luxury brands that now host cruise runway show extravaganzas all around the world. (Louis Vuitton’s last cruise collection was shown in Monaco.)
“I enjoy ready-to-wear, but it’s in the middle of the calendar with many other shows,” Ghesquière said. “Cruise is out of context; the clothes are done for a season that’s in between. You don’t know if it’s winter or summer, so there is a real freedom to think about how clothes will correspond to a new exploration, this time in Palm Springs. Every time, you think about where those clothes can go.”
Alittle after 6 p.m., the show began.
Some goth, some softness, some 1970s and all cool California girl is how Ghesquière described the collection. Tough-looking shrunken bomber jackets and zipfront blouses accented with crisscrossing leather belts that evoked bandoleers were worn with widelegged trousers and flip-flops. Asymmetrically draped tops or sleeveless knits were tucked into maxi-skirts in olive green leather or leafy prints and worn with desert boots or high top sneakers. Bags came in funky Modernist or palm prints.
Long dresses had a wild ro- mance, in chain-link prints, embroidered, prairie florals, or with armor-like, studded shoulder epaulets. Column gowns were covered in a cracked-look embroidery resembling scorched earth. One of several showstopping gowns was a red-hot, red leather zip-front vision with a ruffled neckline and cutout details that’s sure to landon a red carpet soon.
Ghesquière said the collection was inspired in part by Robert Altman’s 1977 cult film, “3 Women,” starring Shelley Duvall, Sissy Spacek and Janice Rule, which was shot in Palm Springs. “Xena: Warrior Princess” and “Game of Thrones” vixens also came to mind.
After the show — and after he was mobbed by well-wishers wanting to take pictures with him in front of the view of the valley — Ghesquière said he has been intrigued by the estate for nearly 20 years, since the first time he traveled to Palm Springs.
The appeal of the space is in the contradictions, he said. “Bob and Dolores Hope are Hollywood glamour, part of the American entertainment story. But at the same time, they were so brave to build something ahead of their time with John Lautner. There is something so sweet and ’50s about the inside of the house with the wallpaper, and at the same time it’s so beautifully Modernist.”
He’s sold us. Now maybe the home will sell.