LVMH’s Louis Vuitton presented a new collection fit for a space odyssey at the end of Paris Fashion Week on Monday, with futuristic, crystal-strewn looks, oversized sleeves and patterned dresses evoking skylines.
Under white neon tube lights, models snaked around a specially constructed catwalk in one of the courtyards of the Louvre museum, with a front row that drew screen stars including Paul Bettany, Alicia Vikander and Cate Blanchett.
The show was the latest big budget display from the heavyweights of the luxury industry, with France’s LVMH also pulling out all the stops for its revamp of Celine last week, and cross-town rival Kering parading models at Saint Laurent under the Eiffel Tower.
At Vuitton, designer Nicolas Guesquiere gave mesh dresses a sci-fi vibe with angular shoulders, while some looks featured ruffles and bouffant sleeves worthy of a space-age musketeer. More sober styles included suit jackets with zipper fastenings.
Some models donned other-worldly white bonnets, while most displayed an assortment of bags, including some shaped like gourds. Vuitton began as a luggage maker and still makes the bulk of its sales from high-margin leather goods.
