Nicolas Ghesquière - Designer, Creative Director of Louis Vuitton

[Lola701]

Probably one of his best interview!
I’m actually surprised by how on spot the questions are and how they covered everything from his infamous Balenciaga controversy in 2002 to his approach to working with celebrities and how he is candid about knowing that people don’t always love his work today.

And finally, someone is not throwing big words to explain a simple fact or feeling!
I almost want to buy the issue just for the interview!

 

[Kanzai]

@Creative since you are asking, this is his thread.

 

[Creative]

Thank you! Was putting these words in the search thing and it didn't pop up. I knew there was one.

Nico, I sometimes forget how much I used to love you and how much you inspired me.

I really wish he could have a moment of brilliance once again, but I think he is to happy living his life as a rich man and couldn't care less about fashion anymore.

 

[Caffeine]

Thank you! Was putting these words in the search thing and it didn't pop up. I knew there was one.

Nico, I sometimes forget how much I used to love you and how much you inspired me.

I really wish he could have a moment of brilliance once again, but I think he is to happy living his life as a rich man and couldn't care less about fashion anymore.

I'm still paying for overpriced Vuitton rtw to get his old silhouette
Though compared to Chanel rtw Vuitton is value.

 

[PDFSD]

this part of interview :
Kaisik Wong? That was around the time we first met.

Yes, of course. In a way, though, I learnt my lesson because there was this book that is actually very famous now [Native Funk & Flash by Alexandra Jacopetti]. And that was where we took those references from. The mistake was that we didn't say that ... There was Kaisik Wong and we also had Koos Van Den Akker. After the show I said that it was a tribute to Koos Van Den Akker and I didn't mention Kaisik Wong, which I should have done. I was so visible then and people were intrigued by my combination of references. They were like, "Where is it coming from?

We know it but we don't know it." The references were kind of blurry. I was outed. It was violent. I did think, why me? Why was I targeted in that way? But I Learnt a lot ... In the end, it was constructive for me, it determined my future, to openly cite references, to celebrate the past with no shame, that opened possibilities for me, that broke some rules and that still applies to my work


To still think he was targeted is not taking accountability for simple finding the original piece that was 1:1 copy and at time the excuse was that he did not know who it was they thought is was just theatre anonymous creator etc ........ and now he says he did know but forgot to mention lol

and he does not cite his inspirations when ist of Alaia, Mugler, or his last copy of russian costume etc etc
Kl or Hedi does photography furniture books exhibitions hotels while doing a lot of shows etc etc what is he waiting for lol

I feel he is contrived now and its ok to just enjoy your life besides work but pretending you want to do all these things pls bro!

 

[Phuel]

^^^ He’s very contrived now— from the way he conducts himself to the way that he looks in public. He comes off as one of those men that can’t have a seam out of place; a hair out of place; a wrinkle out of place now. (I blame it all on MAS.)

Thankfully, the current feature story in Italian Bazaar is the best he’s ever been photographed. Wished he’d either allow a natural beard growth, or just shave it all off; this carefully manicured and clipped beard is so tacky— like men that clip their chest hair: Let it grow naturally or shave it off!



"Le Bâtisseur"
Photographes: Inez & Vinoodh
Feature editor: Alexander Fury
Star: Nicolas Ghesquière


Harpers Bazaar Italia November 2025

 

[PDFSD]

^^^ He’s very contrived now— from the way he conducts himself to the way that he looks in public. He comes off as one of those men that can’t have a seam out of place; a hair out of place; a wrinkle out of place now. (I blame it all on MAS.)

Thankfully, the current feature story in Italian Bazaar is the best he’s ever been photographed. Wished he’d either allow a natural beard growth, or just shave it all off; this carefully manicured and clipped beard is so tacky— like men that clip their chest hair: Let it grow naturally or shave it off!



"Le Bâtisseur"
Photographes: Inez & Vinoodh
Feature editor: Alexander Fury
Star: Nicolas Ghesquière

View attachment 1429503View attachment 1429504View attachment 1429505View attachment 1429506View attachment 1429507View attachment 1429508View attachment 1429509View attachment 1429510View attachment 1429511View attachment 1429512
Harpers Bazaar Italia November 2025

i agree he is very contrived now ...not sure its a womens fault for his ways of being ..MAS is way more relaxed than him in presentation etc

i keep reading comments its MAS its MAS ...but this guy surround himself with yes man and his obsession with star wars fashion and tacky is ultimately what drives the boat and non of his close team say to reign it in under the disguise of pushing things forward and making a fashion moment happen that for years has not.

the paycheck don't hurt that's for sure why speak up!!!! i get that.

you can perfectly see in mas personal styling work there is souple ness and a relaxedness you never see any more in LV shows and most clearly a restraint of not pilling every look.

i am just over it and MAS occasionally i see her styling work in her magazine but i don't open magazines for some years now.

 

[Phuel]

^^^LOL I’m just being a jerk about MAS. I have no evidence it’s MAS that’s influencing his contrived persona, of course. But her styling is worse than contrived — it’s desperate. I just don’t care for her styling and will blame world hunger on her, as a knee-jerk reaction.

 

[PDFSD]

^^^LOL I’m just being a jerk about MAS. I have no evidence it’s MAS that’s influencing his contrived persona, of course. But her styling is worse than contrived — it’s desperate. I just don’t care for her styling and will blame world hunger on her, as a knee-jerk reaction.

i appreciate your honesty ... next round i will cheer you on heheh

 

[jeanclaude]

^^^ He’s very contrived now— from the way he conducts himself to the way that he looks in public. He comes off as one of those men that can’t have a seam out of place; a hair out of place; a wrinkle out of place now. (I blame it all on MAS.)

Thankfully, the current feature story in Italian Bazaar is the best he’s ever been photographed. Wished he’d either allow a natural beard growth, or just shave it all off; this carefully manicured and clipped beard is so tacky— like men that clip their chest hair: Let it grow naturally or shave it off!



"Le Bâtisseur"
Photographes: Inez & Vinoodh
Feature editor: Alexander Fury
Star: Nicolas Ghesquière

View attachment 1429503View attachment 1429504View attachment 1429505View attachment 1429506View attachment 1429507View attachment 1429508View attachment 1429509View attachment 1429510View attachment 1429511View attachment 1429512
Harpers Bazaar Italia November 2025

He is getting more handsome...so that means his next collections will get even more ugly. That´s how it works with him.

 

[hamburgers]

^The Marc Jacobs method

 

[jeanclaude]

^The Marc Jacobs method

In Marc´s case, the longer the nails, the more absurd is the collection...

 

[alwaysademo]

When you have time.. would you write a few words about his last show @PDFSD I'd love to read what you make of that collection

 

[PDFSD]

When you have time.. would you write a few words about his last show @PDFSD I'd love to read what you make of that collection

oh no you really want me to burn my eyes out lol and have ptsd

ok i will rewatch it today like it was the first time and then write a Caty Horny (yes i wrote it like that ) review lol

fun exercise

 

[Phuel]

i appreciate your honesty ... next round i will cheer you on heheh

TFS is really the only place one can be honest if one works in fashion LMFAO

Most of us are just speculative with our postings— maybe observational if one put in the effort. At worst, a tributary mean girl snark. I’m sure MAS can take it, especially when her and Ghesquiere have been increasingly and rampantly trolling with Vuitton. Tim Blanks put it best when he observed that Galliano, towards his last years at Dior, had been feasting on the richest of desserts, and the result is... indigestion. And that perfectly sums up Ghesquiere’s current Vuitton of overwrought pageant costumes that have become increasingly, desperately try hard ugliness, just to stand out. He deserves to be mercilessly trashed for such trash, while still deservingly being praised for his Balenciaga— and even now with Vuitton, when he decides to put in the effort. Why should customers be unquestionably loyal. I still wear Balenciaga men’s from his tenure. Of course he had nothing to do with the menswear, but they’ve held up incredibly well.

It’s always interesting that in her defence, some will bring up her own style— of which doesn’t concern me since I don’t know her; work with her; hang with her: It’s her professional work that I’m irritated by, so that’s what I’ll trash her for. Nothing personal. And oftentimes, a creative like her may possess impeccable personal style, but their professional efforts will be the opposite. It’s usually, if not always, a necessary professional strategic imprinting to enforce a gimmick, a signature that will keep them from being forgotten to their client, or being ripped off by lessers, in the public eye, like Edward Enninful ripping off Lori Goldstein's styling wholesale. Truth is, most professional creatives don’t dress to scream for attention. And the ones that do, never had style anyway :cough:Law Roach:cough:

BTW, you must be that rare entity that’s captured every statistic, every step, every breathe, every move, and every word of every person and scanned them verbatim into a cloud database to be referenced in a nanosecond with the eerie precision of a Tron-level code. I suspect it’s a skill born of necessity, out of self-preservation, out of survival, in the industry. Thank goodness you've has decided to use such powers for the good of TFS gossip LMFAO

 

[PDFSD]

TFS is really the only place one can be honest if one works in fashion LMFAO

Most of us are just speculative with our postings— maybe observational if one put in the effort. At worst, a tributary mean girl snark. I’m sure MAS can take it, especially when her and Ghesquiere have been increasingly and rampantly trolling with Vuitton. Tim Blanks put it best when he observed that Galliano, towards his last years at Dior, had been feasting on the richest of desserts, and the result is... indigestion. And that perfectly sums up Ghesquiere’s current Vuitton of overwrought pageant costumes that have become increasingly, desperately try hard ugliness, just to stand out. He deserves to be mercilessly thrashed for such trash, while still deservingly being praised for his Balenciaga— and even now with Vuitton, when he decides to put in the effort. Why should customers be unquestionably loyal. I still wear Balenciaga men’s from his tenure. Of course he had nothing to do with the menswear, but they’ve held up incredibly well.

It’s always interesting that in her defence, some will bring up her own style— of which doesn’t concern me since I don’t know her; work with her; hang with her: It’s her professional work that I’m irritated by, so that’s what I’ll trash her for. Nothing personal. And oftentimes, a creative like her may possess impeccable personal style, but their professional efforts will be the opposite. It’s usually, if not always, a necessary professional strategic imprinting to enforce a gimmick, a signature that will keep them from being forgotten to their client, or being ripped off by lessers, in the public eye, like Edward Enninful ripping off Lori Goldstein's styling wholesale. Truth is, most professional creatives don’t dress to scream for attention. And the ones that do, never had style anyway :cough:Law Roach:cough:

BTW, you must be that rare entity that’s captured every statistic, every step, every breathe, every move, and every word of every person and scanned them verbatim into a cloud database to be referenced in a nanosecond with the eerie precision of a Tron-level code. I suspect it’s a skill born of necessity, out of self-preservation, out of survival, in the industry. Thank goodness you've has decided to use such powers for the good of TFS gossip LMFAO

Phuel thank you for your kind words hehe

i see it as search for clarity and it's a strange thing to share on a forum but since i joined its been therapeutic believe it or not when i was working i would read stuff on here for years as well so i having time to do what i want i decided to contribute .....time will tell for how long i will have this little spark left to be interested in fashion.

XOXO

 

[PDFSD]

When you have time.. would you write a few words about his last show @PDFSD I'd love to read what you make of that collection

Well i have a headache so i keep it brief lol
As the first time i did not finished the show video so i had to rewatch it fully today.

As Phuel already so eloquently mentioned and i fully feel the same way about NG´s last years at LV that his design is self ego indulging and so over styled and overworked that its like overeating at a buffet and having indigestion and stomach burn.

I find also that the collection is sloppy in construction with every collection more and more.

For some one so obsessed with designing for the future it's again too nostalgic futuristism with emphasis on nostalgic, i feel NG should challenge himself to deal with the reality of today and if he really care about the future incorporate more technical advancements in material and not just nostalgic futurism because it's looking tired and totally disconnected for a while.

And he has it to easy as the commercial collection teams take show parts and put them of basic silhouettes.

But that is not modern to me, to me modern is when you do things that looks and feel new but are actually widely adapted for the now , if not it's just performative.

This lab show collections are so all over the pace that you have no reality to anker it down and make it relevant for now , its realy automatic pilot now.

I'm sure if he had a smaller team and smaller budget he would be more focused but that's what LVMH budget does more and more is not always a good thing just like in nature you have to have balance and beauty and purpose.

Before NG travels always to space i would recommend him and his team to check first what's going on this planet.
Real technology advancements are looking to be sleeker and more effective and have a sense of beauty as well i will ad.
This years of doing ugly so it must be interesting and mixing everything i know how it started because it was a conversion in the studio looking at what gucci was doing with alessandro they were asking if this was the new way to do a show collection mixing it all up it no rules each girl was in a different look etc .

I think rigor and discipline is the futuristic not klaus nomi stiff collars even if we have self driving cars most of these looks you can't sit in a car with them and i don't care that the idea was to wear them in house only entertaining guest well if the guest wear his LV they still need to get into cars.

I am done with his LV it's nauseating he is not modern nor cool any more.

 

[alwaysademo]

Well i have a headache so i keep it brief lol
As the first time i did not finished the show video so i had to rewatch it fully today.

As Phuel already so eloquently mentioned and i fully feel the same way about NG´s last years at LV that his design is self ego indulging and so over styled and overworked that its like overeating at a buffet and having indigestion and stomach burn.

I find also that the collection is sloppy in construction with every collection more and more.

For some one so obsessed with designing for the future it's again too nostalgic futuristism with emphasis on nostalgic, i feel NG should challenge himself to deal with the reality of today and if he really care about the future incorporate more technical advancements in material and not just nostalgic futurism because it's looking tired and totally disconnected for a while.

And he has it to easy as the commercial collection teams take show parts and put them of basic silhouettes.

But that is not modern to me, to me modern is when you do things that looks and feel new but are actually widely adapted for the now , if not it's just performative.

This lab show collections are so all over the pace that you have no reality to anker it down and make it relevant for now , its realy automatic pilot now.

I'm sure if he had a smaller team and smaller budget he would be more focused but that's what LVMH budget does more and more is not always a good thing just like in nature you have to have balance and beauty and purpose.

Before NG travels always to space i would recommend him and his team to check first what's going on this planet.
Real technology advancements are looking to be sleeker and more effective and have a sense of beauty as well i will ad.
This years of doing ugly so it must be interesting and mixing everything i know how it started because it was a conversion in the studio looking at what gucci was doing with alessandro they were asking if this was the new way to do a show collection mixing it all up it no rules each girl was in a different look etc .

I think rigor and discipline is the futuristic not klaus nomi stiff collars even if we have self driving cars most of these looks you can't sit in a car with them and i don't care that the idea was to wear them in house only entertaining guest well if the guest wear his LV they still need to get into cars.

I am done with his LV it's nauseating he is not modern nor cool any more.

Thank you! First for responding, you didn't really have to. Second for always generously sharing your thoughts, I always appreciate it.

I was hoping though for a look by look critique or what you make of his references, as you did for the Chanel show. The 2 lines you wrote about Blazy's "primitive couture" I found informative, helped me clarify my thoughts a tad more.

When you say "deal with the reality of today" which/whose reality are you referring to specifically? Isn't a designer's job to realize his own personal vision? For all I know 1 of his great sources of inspiration has been his obsession with architecture, and from that vantage point I do see some tiny breakthroughs. It did help my cause that at the time I just finished a book called Espèces d'espaces by Georges Perec which touches on the rare ambient quality certain great buildings give, so I was charmed by this collection's very romantic notion of architecture and space. Space between the chin and collar bones, outerspace, space between parts of the body, inner space....... In motion they move with great fluidity and dare I say, beauty, which another member at the time the show aired also pointed out.
You mention the stiff collars, I found them to be one of the finer points. How they almost extend beneath that fuzzy hotel robe also with stiff manchettes paired with the pearl earrings and relaxed hair (on Hoyeon) I think was a very refined upscale version of the casually glamorous hotel-hopper. Afloat but alert. Or this look:



This double triangled vest with straps in motion, up close, is a quiet gem. Reminds me of the ceiling from the inside the cabbage dome at the secession.
Or a couple other looks, in profile... They make 10x more sense than the pictures suggest.
My point is, while being experimental in silhouette they have charm and ease, sth more junior leveled designers with a 2D execution will not have. His old collections were beloved, we can all agree, but I don't remember him having this quality before. They used to be more awkward when he played around with volumes, more clunky.
I also think at the end of the day it comes down to who you're trying to appeal to. I doubt it's Tim Blanks.
Anyway just wanna share with you my thoughts too so it's a dialogue not a monologue.

 

[PDFSD]

Thank you! First for responding, you didn't really have to. Second for always generously sharing your thoughts, I always appreciate it.

I was hoping though for a look by look critique or what you make of his references, as you did for the Chanel show. The 2 lines you wrote about Blazy's "primitive couture" I found informative, helped me clarify my thoughts a tad more.

When you say "deal with the reality of today" which/whose reality are you referring to specifically? Isn't a designer's job to realize his own personal vision? For all I know 1 of his great sources of inspiration has been his obsession with architecture, and from that vantage point I do see some tiny breakthroughs. It did help my cause that at the time I just finished a book called Espèces d'espaces by Georges Perec which touches on the rare ambient quality certain great buildings give, so I was charmed by this collection's very romantic notion of architecture and space. Space between the chin and collar bones, outerspace, space between parts of the body, inner space....... In motion they move with great fluidity and dare I say, beauty, which another member at the time the show aired also pointed out.
You mention the stiff collars, I found them to be one of the finer points. How they almost extend beneath that fuzzy hotel robe also with stiff manchettes paired with the pearl earrings and relaxed hair (on Hoyeon) I think was a very refined upscale version of the casually glamorous hotel-hopper. Afloat but alert. Or this look:



This double triangled vest with straps in motion, up close, is a quiet gem. Reminds me of the ceiling from the inside the cabbage dome at the secession.
Or a couple other looks, in profile... They make 10x more sense than the pictures suggest.
My point is, while being experimental in silhouette they have charm and ease, sth more junior leveled designers with a 2D execution will not have. His old collections were beloved, we can all agree, but I don't remember him having this quality before. They used to be more awkward when he played around with volumes, more clunky.
I also think at the end of the day it comes down to who you're trying to appeal to. I doubt it's Tim Blanks.
Anyway just wanna share with you my thoughts too so it's a dialogue not a monologue.

Dissecting the show by groups almost impossible it's so random mix of references piled up on each other he makes Blazy look like having a clear vision lol
"deal with the reality of today" for me means making clothes that can directly change dressing of today not as constant lab experiments left for the studio to commercialize.
all his inspirations are not so much the issue as to more the choice to almost ignore the reality of his clothes are not transformative as he intends to project, its like he never dares any more to challenge the experiment its like finding something new but in the raw state and never tries anymore to implement it for life for the woman's body and her life.
its would be like a 3 star michelin chef experimenting with food that looks interesting in concept on paper but you can't really eat it in reality and he keeps coming up with concepts but never makes them edible or taste good.
that's NG now.

i don't think NG even appeal to big part of LV clients they buy the commercial product mostly any ways.
he is not well known and its a blessing for LV as the product stands on its own as LV not pharell for LV in a way it works for hermes the creative directors fame dont matter people come for the brand.

sure parts are nice etc he has budget and has ideas its just a mess and to me clunky and not cool nor chic nor fresh anymore.

he never pulls back or exercise restrain and refinement or beaty any more ..his old balenciaga is more modern than most of his current stuff and timeless even in its forward looking style even if the budget was less than.

 

[jeanclaude]

When he was at Balenciaga, his clothes looked futurist (even if the roots for it were in 70s-80s past visions of the future...but it wasn´t literally retro-looking, he always found the way of making it look modern and fresh) .

But now at LV is literally retro-futurism. And it´s looking as stale as a Pierre Cardin collection, which is a really big problem because modernity and freshness are nowhere to be found.