Louis Vuitton FW 2014

[Aleks]

interested to hear opinion on Nicolas' debut

[Aleks]

[Aleks]

[Aleks]

[Faust]

Very safe and very wearable. I was hoping he'd come out guns ablazing, buy I guess not. This route is also understandable, of course. But I'd have gone all out knowing that "critics" will be positive in any case.

And I REALLY wish the baby doll silhouette would just die already. It's so immature and sugary.

[Shucks]

critics would be positive, but maybe not mr. arnault...

as for the 60s stuff, it's always been part of his retro-futuristic vision, but i agree - i would have liked to see more future and less retro...

in general i really think ghesquière and vuitton is not a good match; couture logic vs bag logic - to put it simply. i think he will continue to struggle with expressing his voice, with the weight of such a big commercial brand on his shoulders...

aleks - why were these looks not posted? they are the only ones that i found remotely directional.

[Aleks]

oops i forgot them, i'll post them in a second

[Aleks]

more

[Vanna]

The Proenza boys are really happy he's back. More work for them to copy.

Its solid. A lot of covetable things here.

[Shucks]

The Proenza boys are really happy he's back. More work for them to copy.

Its solid. A lot of covetable things here.

very appropriate choice of wording - most of this is definitely verging on blogger fodder.

[Verdandi]

The Proenza boys are really happy he's back. More work for them to copy.

He must have thought the same given the soundtrack





I don't think this is verging blogger fodder, it's not 'trendy' like Wang. If anything it is very Ghesquière with a lot of nods to the Balenciaga collections from the late 90s and early 00s (the tapestry print, the pants, the skirts). A lot of it felt like an early Balenciage collection before the time he ventured deep into the archives. Given the current state (or non-state) of Vuitton ready to wear I am curious where he will take this, it took him a couple of seasons at Balenciaga as well before he pulled the big guns. I may actually venture into a Vuitton Boutique for the first time ever just to try these on.

[Shucks]

I don't think this is verging blogger fodder, it's not 'trendy' like Wang. If anything it is very Ghesquière with a lot of nods to the Balenciaga collections from the late 90s and early 00s (the tapestry print, the pants, the skirts). A lot of it felt like an early Balenciage collection before the time he ventured deep into the archives. Given the current state (or non-state) of Vuitton ready to wear I am curious where he will take this, it took him a couple of seasons at Balenciaga as well before he pulled the big guns. I may actually venture into a Vuitton Boutique for the first time ever just to try these on.

well, what about this then...

and would it not have been more interesting to see the ghesquière of 2024 or even just plain old 2014, rather than traces of an earlier one?

i guess i'm just not super optimistic he will ever really take things very far at vuitton - i see it more that he will end up as a luxed-out version of theyskens at theory. but i hope i'm wrong - i was a balenciaga fiend once upon a time...

[Faust]

I'd venture a guess that it depends on their business plans. If they want to take pret-a-porter seriously, you might be right. But if they continue to use it and a designer's cache to sell bags, then they might just leave him alone and let his fantasy fly.

[Shucks]

ah, i think maybe we misundersand each other - i definitely am not expecting vuitton to take pret-a-porter seriously as a source of revenue. but i am expecting them to want to maintain very clear semiotic links between the behemoth monogram bag business and the runway - i would not think he will be allowed to take it as far as his talent warrants (and i feel this first collection is a clear indication of those constraints being in place) - rather his job will be to produce new lariat bags and reify them.

but perhaps you are right that this was just stage fright, and that LV actually want 'spectacle' and will give him free reigns.

time will tell.

[Verdandi]

But Shucks, it's just a report from the man repeller, who also reports on Marni, which isn't exactly blogger fodder either. A lot of bloggers also write about Rick and other brands championed here I guess we'll see six months from now.

In regard of Ghesquière taking things far at Vuitton: I think we'll see more futuristic collections within the next few seasons there. The Vuitton RTW customer basically doesn't exist as of this moment. No one bought clothes there. I don't think Arnault hired Ghesquière just to do a good bag. Kering did hire Wang to that at Balenciaga, but I think Arnault really wants to turn Vuitton into a label that offers covetable clothing. Ghesquière's first collection at Balenciaga after Thimister got the boot was very much toned down as well. It was all black, very minimal, and with a lot of cut outs at the back. Just like the Vuitton collection it felt like a palate cleanser and he did build on that in the years that followed.

I also really happen to like the early Ghesquière, so I guess that's why this resonates in such a positive way with me. And I wish he would revisit the very early Ghesquière. His first collection is still everything a fashion collection should be in my eyes and I would do dirty things for owning and being able to wear any piece from this collection.