Louis Vuitton capped up Paris Fashion Week with one of its most magnificent displays, a “clash of epochs” spectacle at the Louvre with a 200-person choir dressed in period costumes ranging from the 15th century to the 1950s. Which displayed a magnificent portrayal of the history.
Milena Canonero, who dressed both “Barry Lyndon” and “A Clockwork Orange,” was hired by designer Nicolas Ghesquiere to create a five-story live backdrop for the play, with music retrieved from obscure 18th-century master Nicolas de Grigny.
“I wanted the ages to respect each other and our own,” the acclaimed French artist explained.
His collection is a “lively and sparky stylistic conflict” between the past and the present, according to him.
With sawn-off 19th-century pannier dresses paired with contemporary biker and ski jackets in one of several improbable combinations that nonetheless worked, he lived up to his pledge.
With a line of stunning bullfighter boleros topping racing driver-style trousers suits, and waistcoats sprouting leather shoulder pads, Ghesquiere seemed to revel in mixing things together that should not ordinarily share the same closet.
The pinstripe was taken and transposed onto leather pants, dresses, skirts, and a waistcoat, which is today the uniform of international banking.
The designer explained that he was attempting to “do all you can do with garments, to mix and match them” and discover new possibilities without being limited by mental style restrictions about what should and should not work.
Ghesquiere remarked, “This collection is the polar opposite of the whole appearance.” “It’s sartorial tuning,” he added, both in the slang sense of flirting and in the sense of getting the correct note.
He presented new customised handles for the iconic Vuitton Keepall bag as well as new “little cabas” in front of a typically starry front row that included Hollywood stars Lea Seydoux, Florence Pugh, and Alicia Vikander.
Ghesquiere had music created by Bryce Dessner of the US indie rock band The National and French music video creator Woodkid for the choir, which was clad in costumes ranging from Versailles in its heyday to the court of the Ming dynasty.
He described the piece, titled “Three Hundred and Twenty,” as a tribute to Nicolas de Grigny, whose work it is based on.
He was a contemporary of Bach, but his skill went unnoticed during his brief lifespan, and his music was never performed in front of French nobility at the Louvre.
