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An interview with Nicolas Ghesquière around his Louis Vuitton Fall-Winter 2020 Women’s Fashion Show Collection

Louis Vuitton all-Winter 2020 Women’s Fashion Show

Louis Vuitton debuted its women's fall/winter 2020 runway show live from Paris on Tuesday, March 3 at 6:30PM. We loved the collection. Very modern, picturesque. GLAMOUR had a chat with Nicolas Ghesquière about the collection

Louis Vuitton all-Winter 2020 Women’s Fashion Show

What is the inspiration for this collection?

In fashion, the notion of time is primordial. I wanted di erent eras to be confronted with another one, our own. All of these “pasts”, embodied by a gallery of personalities in period dress, converge in our present. We are all together, looking at a collection that itself recounts a living, perennial, stylistic clash — and everything we can do with clothes by mixing and free-associating them. It’s sort of an anachrony of genres. It can simply be the pleasure of dressing and its many possibilities, free of protocol or constraint. Taking what we already have at home and mixing it with what we like that’s new. This collection is about an “anti-total-look” that draws on individual personality, on the agility one experiences when confronting one’s own closet.

Louis Vuitton all-Winter 2020 Women’s Fashion Show

A piece of functional clothing can be part of formal dress, and vice versa. It’s a proposition I wanted to be open, energetic and spontaneous. This collection is about sartorial “tuning”.

Louis Vuitton all-Winter 2020 Women’s Fashion Show

Where did you find these characters?

We worked with the talented costumer Milena Canonero, who notably worked on Stanley Kubrick’s  lms “A Clockwork Orange”, “Barry Lyndon” and “The Shining”, among other highly successful  lms. She created 200 characters ranging from the 15th century to 1950. In counterpoint, there’s music composed by Woodkid and Bryce Dessner, who also worked on time clashes. Their piece is called “Three Hundred and Twenty”, a reference to the number of years between the various movements in the baroque composition that’s also been injected with minimalist, repetitive music. They resurrected the composer Nicolas de Grigny, a contemporary of Bach, who was never recognised by his peers and who never had the chance to play at the Louvre. Today, centuries later, he’s  nally being heard! We’ve revived him. The performance was orchestrated by theater director Francisco Negrin.

Louis Vuitton all-Winter 2020 Women’s Fashion Show

Please can you explain the accessories?

There’s the Keepall — a pure, vintage piece that acquired a beautiful patina over time. We just customised it with a new strap. There are also small satchels, mini-totes and strange little streamlined minaudières. Shoes also illustrate a very free rein: revisited boots, metal cap-toe pumps that evoke wheel rims on a customised car.

Louis Vuitton all-Winter 2020 Women’s Fashion Show

Please can you explain the set?

As with the last show, it’s very stripped-back. It’s an immense stage where we are all the players are in the moment. Who are the actors? 

Louis Vuitton all-Winter 2020 Women’s Fashion Show

Who are the spectators?

All these cumulative periods are together in the same place. In the gallery, there’s the past. On the benches, the present. On the runway, the not-so-distant future.... For this show, a rented glass structure covers a wood and Valchromat decor that is 100% certi ed PEFC (Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certi cation) and sourced from sustainably managed forests in France. In addition, all the wooden decor elements will be donated for reuse to various organisations in France.

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