As Louis Vuitton closed out fashion month last week, you’d be forgiven for thinking that it was the 4 cities back-to-back/the 350+ catwalks/the 14,000ish looks causing delirium amongst the show-going fashion crowd.
But as the red curtain was peeled back – revealing the centre of the Cour Carrée in the courtyard of the Louvre and introducing a series of models adorned with giant zips and supersized belts stomping beneath moving lightbulb chandeliers and rotating mirrors – it became clear that the somewhat dizzying mood was, in fact, a direct result of Nicolas Ghesquière‘s fantastically trippy vision for spring/summer 2023.
Focussing on the idea of emphasis and putting a spotlight on specific design details, this was a true celebration of the iconic French luxury fashion brand‘s house codes.
“It’s a stylistic exercise that re-evaluates the proportions of clothing and its adjuncts,” read the show notes, “one in which the codes of femininity unsettle scale.”
“The infinitely large and the infinitely small come together on silhouettes, inviting a second look. The spring/summer 2023 women’s collection zooms in on the details, highlights them, gives them their due.”
For next season, Louis Vuitton has offered up a whole new perspective. But while accents have been exaggerated – everything from locks to labels, clasps, buckles, pockets, popper buttons, zips and even monogrammed clutch bags were given the LV supersize treatment – this was no sartorial parody.
Silhouettes were recognisably Vuitton, the colour palette was, if anything, relatively restrained, and prints were tasteful and in moderation. What Nicolas Ghesquière’s SS23 offering served up was a true masterclass in design; creating covetable classics with such clever contemporary twists that they’ll undeniably be a global viral phenomenon the minute they hit the shelves.
Yup, we’re expecting to see colossal zips, giant buckles and mammoth belts all over our Instagram feed and TikTok FYP as soon as the season rolls in – and we’re ready to obsess over every single post.
For more from Glamour UK’s Fashion Editor Charlie Teather, follow her on Instagram @charlieteather.