Escape on a Botanical Cruise with Louis Vuitton’s Cruise 2024 Collection
Louis Vuitton’s Artistic Director of Women’s Collections, Nicolas Ghesquière chose Isola Bella in Italy for the showing of the Maison’s Cruise 2024 collection — the brand calls it a “botanical Cruise”, “populated by drifting creatures that abandon aquatic dwellings for the discovery of terrestrial wonders”. Here, Ghesquière tells us all you need to know!
Louis Vuitton’s Artistic Director of Women’s Collections, Nicolas Ghesquière chose Isola Bella in Italy for the showing of the Maison’s Cruise 2024 collection — the brand calls it a “botanical Cruise”, “populated by drifting creatures that abandon aquatic dwellings for the discovery of terrestrial wonders”. Here, Ghesquière tells us all you need to know!
Why did you choose Isola Bella for the Cruise 2024 show?
There’s a genuine affinity with Italy, which is as important as France to fashion: we share a very strong tradition and culture. I had been thinking about it for a while because, surprisingly, Louis Vuitton had never shown in Italy. I wanted a special place, something new. Also, different architecture, a different context. The paradoxical idea of a “botanical Cruise” really intrigued me! The Borromean Islands came to mind, and particularly Isola Bella because I had heard amazing stories about it. The very suggestion of the island is a journey — a lake, a palace, gardens. A fabulous destination, with mosaic-covered grottoes, statues, a unicorn — the Borromeo family emblem — terraces, an atrium. I am so pleased to be able to show my collection there, and it’s the first time they have ever hosted such an event.
How did you blend the history and atmosphere of this island into this collection?
It’s another — certainly more fanciful — architectural adventure. It’s a place where I find personal affinities like The Tales of Hoffmann and hanging gardens nearby that served as set décor in Star Wars, which, it goes without saying at this point, have always been consummate references for me. Isola Bella is a story unto itself. It beckons more dream-like ref lections. I see this collection as a tale devoid of nostalgia. A story of anticipation. A kind of archaeology of the future. The mystery of lakes that one imagines might be populated by fantastical creatures. It could be a post-modern wyvern, a legendary creature, a kind of freshwater mermaid that lives in rivers, ponds and lakes. A very beautiful, mythical woman. Precious stones adorn her forehead. She seduces men by placing jewels on the shore and luring them into the depths. This time, it’s she who ventures onto dry land to reconnect with the plant kingdom. The collection follows a progression from aquatic to botanical.
Could you elaborate?
I explored an exercise I like very much, which I have been practicing at Louis Vuitton for a long time: the juxtaposition between the familiar and the remarkable. A mix of the everyday and unique moments. The characters such a mix might create, that one could picture in this timeless palace. The link between the ordinary and the extraordinary. Transformation. That narrative follows a thread from the first hybrid looks, of neoprene ensembles and urban cuts that are like amphibious silhouettes, to the finale, with a new, very Vuitton idea of evening dress.
Can you describe the sartorial progression?
Scuba bralettes and water stain prints look as though the characters had emerged dripping from the lake. Webbed sleeves and miniskirts with webbed pleats. There’s a metamorphosis from the nautical to the baroque, for example in a jumpsuit with a diving-style top over embroidered georgette trousers. Skirts in oversized opalescent sequins. Silk jacquard capes that are like large peignoirs embroidered with water droplets. Leathers that look like galuchat, embroideries that resemble shells, conchs, or fish scales. Some of the models, who may appear almost faun-like, wear headdresses created by an atelier in Rome, which makes costumes for the Italian cinema and opera. The water people move onto the land in dresses with rigid draping.
Dresses or tops in ultra-fine jersey feature coloured silicone appliqués. Brushed cashmere sweaters with cut-outs are paired with bike shorts in double-face cashmere. Ample embroidered shirts have tails in back. Semi-transparent dresses, fully embroidered with Belle Epoque-style stained glass motifs, are worn under very classic coats. Ornamentation is intensified. At the end come very grand, ultra-flou evening looks, which is a new register for us in formal dress. They’re like unreal f lowers from this once-in-a-lifetime garden. Gravity-defying, bias-cut dresses in a single, solid colour come in ruched organza or interlaced satin strips. It’s our approach to ultra-romanticism.
What about the bags?
We’re presenting a brand-new Monogram, the Monogram Dune, in a sandy colour on ecru canvas, which we used on some of the Maison’s iconic bags. There’s also a comeback for a historic bag, the Randonnée, a large sailor bag in various colours of Epi leather. A new bag, the Looping, inaugurates the Monogram Dune. We’re also reprising the legendary Malletage, the functional ties found inside trunks, with very graphic interlacing on most accessories. There’s what we call “Inside-Out Malletage” in trompe-l’œil linen canvas, which is, in fact, a leather that creates a perfect illusion, and a process we’ve been working on for a long time. And we’re also paying homage to the Trianon canvas, which was used to cover the very first Louis Vuitton trunks. In grey leather canvas, it makes a beautiful addition to our mini backpacks.
