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Neubauer Artists LLC
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Nicolas Ghesquière focused on lightness, precision and freedom of movement
Last season, creative director Nicolas Ghesquière took us on a journey through an imagined natural world, fusing inspirations from Nepal and Mongolia with folklore references, all woven into his signature design expression. This season, he focused his attention on the body, more precisely, on its relationship to movement. He was interested in the body in action and the way clothing could follow its natural rhythm.
Ghesquière’s work at Louis Vuitton was marked by unique silhouettes, from unusual, geometrically accentuated shoulders to pants reminiscent of origami. It is precisely the combination of genius and absurdity that has become part of his distinctive signature and what keeps his loyal fans coming back to him.
This season, however, he made a complete turnaround. He brought silhouettes closer to the body than ever during his tenure at Louis Vuitton.
As the collection’s accompanying notes say: “Ergonomic clothing is not defined by the outer silhouette, but by the body inside it. The clothes are not shaped around the body – they are shaped to it. Nothing is rigid, everything is fluid, like a second skin that accentuates the body in motion.”
These aren’t pieces you’d wear to the gym, though.
Double and triple layers of chiffon were transformed into flowing dresses, while carré silks and cashmere scarves were fashioned into pleated tops and pants that ended in long, flowing trains. Traditional tailoring also underwent a new interpretation: long coats and classic blazers were placed “off-axis”, collars were moved, and buttons on jackets were placed diagonally along the lapels.
The inner layers of the clothes were removed through a process of reduction and simplification, all with one goal: to make the clothes as light as possible.
Perhaps Ghesquière is on the trail of something important.
At Louis Vuitton, but also throughout Paris, this season we saw clothes that prioritized freedom of movement over the conformity and restraints that clothing often imposes today.
The collections seemed to say that women, more than ever, should break free from the idea that clothes have to be some kind of armor .
The world is difficult and increasingly complex, but perhaps one of the simplest and most personal forms of self-care is to dress softly, freely and primarily for yourself.
