Nicolas Ghesquière - Designer, Creative Director of Louis Vuitton

[IsabelMarantBoy]

There were certain collections of his at Balenciaga that still hold up, I have a small collection of about 20 pieces of his work with most of it laying in the 2005-2006 range, like the narrow shouldered coats from Fall 2005 or the embellished "Devils in Balenciaga" tank and pleated wrap kilt skirt from Spring 2006 🩷 The technical skill and tailoring back at that house is unmatched in todays rather sloppy oversized fits most fashion houses go with these days.

Also absolutely agreed, Alber's work at Lanvin was so beautiful and ingenious, I'm shocked it hasn't shot up in price after his passing 💔 would love to collect more of that, but my heart lays with Theyskens 🥰 I have around 150 pieces from his tenures at Rochas and Nina Ricci.

 

[Steddycam91]

I recently skimmed through the System magazine interview Nicolas did in late 2012/early 2013, after he left Balenciaga and before he joined Vuitton, and little did he know...

system-magazine.com

Eleven years later and still hoping for them to wake up, but not counting on it.

I really admire Nicolas for, among many things, weathering the chaotic storm of the fashion industry over the past decade. Raf, Marc, Miuccia, Alber (RIP) all had their various struggles. Phoebe tapped out halfway through and is only just now coming back on more scaled-back terms. It's a lot of pressure, and I'm glad someone as genuinely accomplished and creative as Nicolas gets to be at the helm of the world's biggest luxury brand. I may not love everything he does, but I still appreciate his craft and uncompromising vision. It's a huge business and things have to sell, but you never get the feeling that Nicolas is restrained or limited.

That being said, there's an alternate Sliding Doors timeline where Nicolas worked it out with Kering and stayed at Balenciaga. Imagine how different fashion would be if that happened? I also think back to his final Balenciaga collection, and how playful and chic it was. I'll also never pass up the opportunity to repost these flawless coats, which I think about quite often...

vogue

vogue

 

[LadyJunon]

I recently skimmed through the System magazine interview Nicolas did in late 2012/early 2013, after he left Balenciaga and before he joined Vuitton, and little did he know...
View attachment 1256780
system-magazine.com

Eleven years later and still hoping for them to wake up, but not counting on it.

I think that he's quite spot on. It's already starting to hit with the brands that are big, but not too big to fail (Burberry, Givenchy, Ferragamo, Balenciaga, etc).

I really admire Nicolas for, among many things, weathering the chaotic storm of the fashion industry over the past decade. Raf, Marc, Miuccia, Alber (RIP) all had their various struggles. Phoebe tapped out halfway through and is only just now coming back on more scaled-back terms. It's a lot of pressure, and I'm glad someone as genuinely accomplished and creative as Nicolas gets to be at the helm of the world's biggest luxury brand. I may not love everything he does, but I still appreciate his craft and uncompromising vision. It's a huge business and things have to sell, but you never get the feeling that Nicolas is restrained or limited.

That being said, there's an alternate Sliding Doors timeline where Nicolas worked it out with Kering and stayed at Balenciaga. Imagine how different fashion would be if that happened? I also think back to his final Balenciaga collection, and how playful and chic it was. I'll also never pass up the opportunity to repost these flawless coats, which I think about quite often...

I could see Nicolas' Balenciaga eventually evolving to become somewhat like Fendi, where the brand distribution is relatively tight. Part of me wishes that Jacques Bogart never sold the company and had the initiative to mimic Chanel's model.

 

[Lola701]

When brands are not reaching billions of euros they can really focus on making clothes.

When brands have at their helm creative directors who have standards, they can focus on making quality clothes.
A lot of things can be said about Hedi in terms of design (And I’m the first one to criticize it), nothing can be said about his commitment to quality.
His approach to fashion is very noble because he is not a « geek designer » but you know that he will use the best denim, the best fabrics that will compliment his cut. That’s how you have timeless garments.


What I love the most about collecting clothes (I collect with the intent of wearing them first) is to see the evolution in a designer’s work or in techniques and things like that.

In Nicolas’s case, I think his relationship with the body has extremely evolved.
I think his work for Vuitton is a bit in the continuation of his last 4 seasons at Balenciaga. There’s a ease, a roundness in his clothes that was not present in most of his time at Balenciaga.
When I put one the blazers from FW2007 (I own two) or the blazer from the SS2006, they suddenly takes control of you! You stands differently, the armhole is very high, it changes the allure.
However, from 2011 to now, his clothes have a more everyday wear appeal. In a way you can forget about them.
It’s funny to think that at one point, Nicolas, alongside Pierre Hardy, was responsible for designing the most out of this world high sky heels in the world. When I look at the Maryjane from fw2006, I can’t believe that I used to wear them. Now the allure of the Ghesquiere woman has changed. She is mostly in flats and when she is on heels, it’s a walkable heel…They have an angry walk anyway on the runway. It wouldn’t have the same effect with high sky heels.

I have those clothes that I will pass on to my daughter or son. More than a testament of my taste (designers clothes or not), it also shows the evolution in fabrics, in finishings and things like that.
I have a 70’s camel hair cape that my mother made. It hasn’t moved on bit in 50 years. Amazing craftsmanship, made by hands. You wouldn’t find the same quality today unless if you are willing to pay Loro Piana prices. The same for the dresses she made for me up until I was 25. It’s totally worth it!

 

[Lola701]

I have a 70’s camel hair cape that my mother made. It hasn’t moved on bit in 50 years.

I need to learn to re-read myself lol…
A cape my grandmother made!

 

[LadyJunon]

Louis Vuitton will be showing their PF24 collection tomorrow in Shanghai:

 

[Kanzai]

He's so dedicated 😍

 

[Lola701]

Last year’s collection wasn’t designed for a show but a regular lookbook and some boutiques events. Pietro Beccari held a « last minute » show. And so, it was much more accessible, commercial, less thoughts-provoking or taste challenging than with his usual runway shows.

It will be interesting to see if this collection follow the same path or if it is designed with the performance aspect of the runway show in mind. Technically, this was conceived around the same time as his 10 years anniversary show.

Those AI are interesting. Maybe Vuitton will collaborate with a Chinese artist? Or are they collaborating with Murakami again and debuting this in Shanghai?

 

[PDFSD]

Last year’s collection wasn’t designed for a show but a regular lookbook and some boutiques events. Pietro Beccari held a « last minute » show. And so, it was much more accessible, commercial, less thoughts-provoking or taste challenging than with his usual runway shows.

It will be interesting to see if this collection follow the same path or if it is designed with the performance aspect of the runway show in mind. Technically, this was conceived around the same time as his 10 years anniversary show.

Those AI are interesting. Maybe Vuitton will collaborate with a Chinese artist? Or are they collaborating with Murakami again and debuting this in Shanghai?

the AI balloons are from the artist Sun Yitian
www.instagram.com/taki524

 

[Lola701]

the AI balloons are from the artist Sun Yitian
www.instagram.com/taki524

Thank you for the info.
Interesting. I have loved Nicolas’s collaborations so far. They are quite weird and quite detached from the usual roaster of Vuitton artists. Definitely excited.