Louis Vuitton Unveils Its Latest Cruise 2024 Show on a Private Island of Isola Bella
The show took place on the majestic private island where ‘Star Wars’ was filmed, a clear reference throughout the collection.
Nicolas Ghesquière presented his latest Louis Vuitton collection on the private island of Isola Bella in Lake Maggiore, a small but opulent and charming Italian island owned by the Borromeo family. Despite the incessant rain that unexpectedly occurred on the day of the event, this failed to dampen Nicolas Ghesquiere’s ambitions. Originally imagined against a golden sunset shimmering in a magnificent fountain on the aptly named Isola Bella on northern Italy’s Lake Maggiore, the show moved to the majestic public rooms of Palazzo Borromeo, whose construction began in the 17th century and was only completed 400 years later, after World War II. The sprawling palace near the Swiss border remains the summer residence of the Borromeo family.
“Surprisingly, Louis Vuitton had never presented its creations in Italy before,” said Ghesquière. “He wanted a special place, something new. Also, he longed for a different architecture and a different context.”
The foliage and mystery of the gardens in bloom created a beautiful and sensual backdrop for this collection. Nicolas combined baroque references easily identifiable in the oil paintings hanging throughout the palazzo, such as accordion collars, with modern materials such as neoprene and sporty silhouettes. The Cruise 2024 collection is a narrative of transformation.
In his notes, Ghesquiere described the collection as a kind of “archeology of the future,” set on an island that “attracts more dreamlike reflections.”
“Imagined as a story of the extraordinary, the collection opens up to a myriad of influences revealing a hybrid elegance of baroque opulence and neoprene. Like Isola Bella, a ship of greenery sailing between myth and reality, Nicolas Ghesquière finds in this paradoxical notion the new balance of a contemporary and ultra-romantic femininity.” – by Louis Vuitton.
The gardens are crowned by the Atrium of Diana; a building full of mythological figures that anticipate what Louis Vuitton Cruise 2024 told us: a fairy tale about the metamorphosis of a sea creature to discover the wonders of the terrestrial world. This story was divided into three very marked acts that we saw in the looks of the collection. First, a completely marine creature; scales, fins of newts and jellyfish suggested fantasy. The middle ground is the mermaid, a half-fish, half-human creature that was reflected in innovative garments, cuts and fabrics. Finally we have the human, presented as a baroque princess in dreamy dresses.
Some of Ghesquiere’s creations could easily emerge from the depths of the lake, with neoprene straps creating wings on cropped blouses and giving movement to ruffled skirts worthy of a freshwater mermaid. Late Renaissance came to life with knave jumpsuits with blouses, sequined skirts suggesting chain mail and tapestry detailing on jacket sleeves. Elaborate feathered and gilded headdresses created drama.
In addition, Ghesquière wanted to gradually show a more feminine woman in the collection, and telegraphed this message with rounded skirts adorned with shells, delicate silk gowns, embroidered and feather-light pants, layers of georgette with jacquard paintings, fabrics with chiffon slits and draped dresses in transparent jersey with layers of soft silicone that contributed to the effect of moisture, also in contrasting colors, such as bright blue and yellow or orange and pale lilac.
A series of frothy gowns with sheer panels and satin trim falling into stiff wire hems closed the show in a flurry of peach, sage, pink and yellow. The princess gowns were complemented by mid-calf boots with crisscross straps.
“What I loved is the concept of the modern princess who no longer needs a prince,” said Italian actress Sabrina Impacciatore, “It’s the spirit I saw in every outfit and I really loved it. It’s about a powerful girl, a really powerful girl, who doesn’t give up her femininity,” she said.
This is the first time that the building owned by the Borromeo family has hosted a fashion show, an international event that has brought together many special guests and faithful of the French Maison including Oprah Winfrey, Jennifer Connelly, Cate Blanchett, Emma Stone, Catherine Deneuve, Felix of the Straykids, Dew Jirawat, Sabrina Impacciatore and Simona Tabasco, Fedez and Chiara Ferragni and the fresh-faced creative director of Louis Vuitton’s men’s line, Pharrell Williams.
Take a look at some of the boldest looks of the Cruise 2024 collection.
