KNOWN for the extravagant trips around the world, Louis Vuitton womenswear creative director Nicolas Ghesquière has now had to press pause again for the cruise collection. Though taking a step into the more over-the-top shows that have had us all speaking for months, the designer swapped the studio for the town of Cergy-Pontoise – more specifically Axe Majeur.
A garden at its core, the green fields are home to artist Dani Karavan’s colossal sculptures giving the space an extra-terrestrial feel. The utopia that has been built plays in nicely with Ghesquiere’s love for anything unearthly as the designer plays around with silhouettes and fabrics season upon season forming the armour for the women with a desire to explore the unknown.
However, with reference to the times we are living in, the unknown is far out of the reach but the venture back into normality is something to celebrate.
The 2022 Cruise collection was designed for just that. It is a time for optimism and a time for celebration. The pops of colours are splashed everywhere – the looks are telling you to be bold. Graphic prints, stripes and heavy exterior piping alludes to an unstoppable character for this season, one not afraid to wear a knitted jumper with feather sleeves.
It wouldn’t be a Ghesquière collection without a dollop of military-style injected into the seams, so regimented jackets return for another mission and padded shoulders are brought back to ensure you are socially distanced even in the new-normal.
At a moment where everything seems so close, yet not within reach, the Louis Vuitton 2022 Cruise collection has brought joy back to the runway.
by Imogen Clark
