Louis Vuitton Fall 2024 – A Creative Journey Celebrating 10 Years of Nicolas Ghesquière Leading the French Fashion House

Not caught in the dazzling glory of a decade ago, Louis Vuitton Fall 2024 – the commemorative show marking 10 years of Nicolas Ghesquière leading the French fashion house, is the new vision that this talented creative director has outlined for the future.

Returning to Paris Fashion Week as usual, but the latest Fall/Winter collection from Louis Vuitton brings an entirely different atmosphere – more joyful and grand than usual. Because it’s not just a regular presentation of a new collection, but also a celebration marking 10 years since Nicolas Ghesquière took the helm of the Louis Vuitton Womenswear creative dynasty. As a creative director of one of the world’s most luxurious brands, ironically, Nicolas is the least known designer. Perhaps, the masterpieces he left behind for Louis Vuitton’s legacy and the fashion landscape are so magnificent that viewers no longer care about the person behind them. Whether remembered or unknown, Nicolas’s contributions to the French fashion house over the past 10 years cannot be denied.

To mark a decade since his debut as the Creative Director of Louis Vuitton, Nicolas returned to the Louvre Museum, where his debut show took place, to present the 10-year collection. Inside the transparent plastic tent in the Louvre Museum courtyard, guests were quickly ushered to their seats.

While waiting for the show to begin, the audience’s attention was drawn to occasional beams of bright light passing over their heads, resembling a spaceship patrolling. Perhaps this signals the departure of Captain Nicolas’s time-traveling ship to the past? In the middle of the audience, Nicolas (as usual) placed a massive architectural piece. It was a sparkling sphere with a structure reminiscent of science fiction by artist Philippe Parreno. The program also featured an auditory experience from Nicolas Becker. Pleasing to the eye, satisfying to the ear, everything was ready to immerse the audience in Nicolas Ghesquière’s richly imaginative world.

A déjà vu continued to occur, just like at the first show, he placed a typed letter on each seat. Back then, Nicolas wrote about the “boundless joy” of a new beginning. But after 10 years, the content of the letter has changed, still talking about joy, but perhaps it paints a new hope for a new era: “This joy is still here. It’s a beautiful journey. And I continue to do that work.” After reading the letter, looking up at the crowd of about 4,000 people, we would encounter an editor appearing in an intact outfit from Nicolas’s Fall/Winter 2014 show. “It’s not outdated,” she shared. Surrounding her were the classic A-line coat, round-necked shirt, knitted vest, and black leather pants instantly recognizable by Nicolas’s signature. It’s one of the achievements that few creative directors or designers in any brand can achieve. In a fashion creative director’s career, Nicolas’s 10 years are considered a record, a glory.

Nicolas’s time-traveling journey in Louis Vuitton Fall 2024 will take us to many different stops, where we will witness how he reinterprets a series of iconic works.

Taking place on the last day of Paris Fashion Week, Louis Vuitton’s Fall/Winter 2024 collection stands as evidence of a decade of design transformations under the talented creative direction of Nicolas Ghesquière. Nicolas’s time-traveling journey in Louis Vuitton Fall 2024 will take us to many different stops, where we will witness how he reinterprets a series of iconic works. These are the luxurious embroidered coats of the 17th century, interspersed with contemporary pieces expressing reverence for Louis Vuitton’s multi-tiered trunks. The skillful, meticulous embroidery on the densely embroidered coats, decorated with metallic threads and cabochon stones, evokes the sophistication of the Spring/Summer 2018 collection, Louis XVI. The shimmering knee-length dresses seem to evoke memories of spring 2021, a show held during the pandemic. Meanwhile, the asymmetric swirls of the stunning ball gowns evoke the sleek diving suits interpreted from Louis Vuitton’s Cruise 2017 show in Rio. Additionally, the pearl-gray fur-trimmed coats with feather-like embroidery evoke the velvet coats from the Spring/Summer 2018 collection.

The designer’s love for the fantastical is evident in the recreated dresses, reminiscent of the magnificent “ball” at Louis Vuitton’s 200th anniversary commemorative show. These pieces illustrate his skilled craftsmanship in combining historical elegance with modern allure; at the same time, they showcase Nicolas Ghesquière’s creative approach to shape and structure – something that leaves a lasting impact on the fashion landscape. Over the years, Nicolas has viewed savoir-faire in the heritage of French fashion houses and its origins in travel as a “pillar” in his work. Both are dissected in the collection, in sculpted short dresses printed with classical trunks with nostalgic trousers, as well as the comfortable allure of sportswear and ready-to-wear coats with tech-performance garment details – symbolic of Nicolas’s long-standing passion for science fiction. All of Nicolas Ghesquière’s elements are here, but there is no nostalgia, only lightness and excitement. What’s noteworthy about Ghesquière is that even in hindsight, he can still imagine the future.

These elements once again underscore his vision of fashion as a journey, not only through physical space but also through historical realms and imagination. While not necessarily an explosively anticipated collection, it’s the most complete show from Nicolas to date. Because it symbolizes his style development, showing the harmony between familiar elements recreated through a new lens. Nicolas Ghesquière not only reminisces but also propels Louis Vuitton into the future, preserving the brand’s heritage while transcending new boundaries in design. The embellishments from liberally scattered feathers or hats with unique shapes that only Nicolas could conceive are evidence. The ability to foresee the future of fashion, even while paying homage to its past, has solidified Nicolas’s position as a uniquely visionary figure, an irreplaceable “talent” in the fashion industry.