French fashion house Louis Vuitton showed its 2023 cruise collection of shimmering armour-like silhouettes at the brutalist Salk Institute designed by US architect Louis Kahn in La Jolla, San Diego County, California. Nicolas Ghesquière, Artistic Director of Women’s Collections says the extraordinary setting is a source of endless inspiration.
Fashion-forward celebrities and others stepped onto the institute’s courtyard to their assigned seats, gray concrete slabs that gave them prime views of the models and for most, the best view of the San Diego sunset.
The show opened with Lous and the Yakuza, a well-known and faithful face to the Maison, wearing a stately dress expertly composed of voluminous flounces and sculptural draperies. As if on a utopian crossing, the collection can be seen to either celebrate the sun or provide protection from it. From looks that evoke a desert-climate to metal tones that reflect solar rays, Nicolas Ghesquière explores the contrast between structured constructions and fluid draping, between technology and the earth.
Many early 2000s trends were on display: low-rise jeans, wraparound sunglasses, black belts and leather boots featuring eye-catching cut-outs. The collection evoked an aura of medieval meets millennial.
Graphic bomber jackets, metallic fabrics, and embellished garments shimmered against the concrete setting as models walked through the golden concrete and sunset. The show ended with a trio of oversized sculptural metallic bolero’s which were lined in shimmering fringe. Discover Opulent Club on Apple news.