The Louis Vuitton 2018 Cruise show was hosted an hour outside of Kyoto at the Miho Museum, a location as stunning as it is secluded. This was a once-in-a-lifetime extravaganza featuring a white-carpeted runway that stretched over a gorge high in the red-pine-forested hillside. This sharp, architectural setting strongly juxtaposed with the verdant background and set the tone for a collection that explored the link between tradition and modernity.

 

 

WEAR IT WELL

“Japan was one of the first places I travelled to when I was seeking inspiration,” Nicolas Ghesquière said of his vision for the show, calling the collection “a culmination of what Japan has given me for a very long time.” This inspiration manifested itself in one of his most exciting and strongest bodies of work. Masterful tailoring, seen on oversized, slope-shouldered suit jackets, highlighted his design authority, and a range of textures like sequins, knits and fur made for cool, confident layering. References came from a variety of places: the Japanese film Stray Cat Rock, Japanese art, such as Hokusai’s The Great Wave Off Kanagawa, and even samurai armour, which presented in the form of glittering, glamorous warrior girls in Noh-theatre gold lace.

 

LOCAL PARTNER

Ghesquière collaborated on this collection with designer Kansai Yamamoto – the man responsible for creating David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust look – whose contemporary influence and love of colour was all over the patterns and prints.

 

MODEL MATERIAL

Casting was diverse; the show featured many Asian models, including Japan’s Miki Ehara and Rila Fukushima, Korea’s Heejung Park, Hoyeon Jung, Sora Choi and Doona Bae and China’s Jing Wen and French/Chinese Estelle Chen. Rising stars Selena Forrest (who said that the show was “by far one of the coolest shows [she has] been a part of”) and our very own Emm Arruda rounded out an eclectic, edgy mix.

 

WAIT FOR IT

The accessories are going to fly out of shops this season, especially the sure-to-be-waitlisted Speedy and Petit Malle bags with delightfully playful Yamamoto-designed kabuki-mask stickers.