MANIFESTO

#61

ART NOW

RE-EVALUATED PROPORTIONS

2022.10.05

Text by Lucrezia Sgualdino

Nicholas Ghesquière changes Louis Vuitton’s fashion point of view, working on a grand scale by bringing out striking details. 

What goes on stage for the Maison Louis Vuitton’s spring/summer 2023 collection is a fairy-tale, almost surreal narrative. In the setting of the Cour Carrée of the Louvre, a mobile structure reminiscent of large theme park games, “monster-flower,” created in collaboration with artist Philippe Parreno, depicts a giant flower that represents the designer’s work on the macro dimension and his focus on femininity. The feminine character comes out with great emphasis, in all its complexity and magnificence. The point of view from which the analysis and design of the collection starts expands, not stopping at appearance but finding the true essence in every detail, making it obvious and giving it enormous importance. It looks like a game, a sporty chic fun-looking tale that gives a unique show. 

“It is a stylistic exercise that reevaluates the proportions of clothing, a proof by which the codes of femininity break down in scale. The infinitely large and the infinitely small come together on silhouettes inviting a new point of view.”

– Nicholas Ghesquière

Zippers that usually close dresses and tend to be hidden become the dress itself, in full; bows are great elements of volume; buckles and hooks also return as fundamental to the dress as they are in micro size for handbags and accessories; the address tag and padlocks we usually see on duffel bags and suitcases are clutch bags carried by hand. It is all cleverly thought out and harmonized to tell a unique point of view with perfect balance. All the elements seen on the runway are characteristic of the brand’s history, part of the great craftsmanship that characterizes it. Each part fits the game of proportions: maxi bags with giant monograms, macro pockets that refer to the element of travel so dear to the Maison. The color palette and choice of materials is broad, just like the perspective of his fashion Ghesquière wants to give us. From the classic tones of black and white that open the défilé, we come to green, light blue, red and pink. All these shades are presented in contrasting fabrics, there is technical research and tradition, modernity and history, jersey and leather, wool and cotton. The designer’s off-scale work engages the viewer to reflect on his or her own global perception of the image of detail and femininity. A vision that disrupts the dimensions and conceptions of the individual. 

RIVE DROITE

SAINT LAURENT BY
VANESSA BEECROFT

2023.02.15

Saint Laurent invites Vanessa Beecroft to photograph the Spring 23 collection: a selection of 14 polaroids is on display at Rive Droite stores in Paris and Los Angeles. 

COLLECTION

Gucci Après-Ski

2022.12.15

The Maison presents the new Gucci Après-Ski collection, a selection of garments designed for a luxurious and refined high-altitude season told through a retro campaign inspired by the relaxed atmosphere of winter holidays.

JACQUEMUS

"LE RAPHIA"

2022.12.13

Under a relentless rain of raffia, that breaks in like a summer storm, Jacquemus presents its new Spring Summer 2023 collection, titled “Le Raphia”. The natural fiber becomes the undisputed star moving from its raw essence to being extremely luxurious.

CELINE

Age of Indieness

2022.12.12

Age of Indieness spotlights an aesthetic raised from the indie-sleaze era of the 1990s and early 2000s, Celine’s Winter 2023 collection, designed by Hedi Slimane, walk the catwalk at the Wiltern Theatre in the heart of Los Angeles.

Fashion

Chanel
Métiers d’Art

2022.12.09

The Chanel Métiers d’Art 2022/23 collection, presented under the artistic direction of Virginie Viard, parades at the Palais de Justice in Dakar, capital of Senegal. The show is unique in terms of creativity, and a tribute to the savoir-faire of the place.