Louis Vuitton Cruise 2023 Collection
At Louis Vuitton’s Cruise 2023 show, the star of the moment was the sun. It debuted at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies by architect Louis Kahn in San Diego.
The artistic director of Louis Vuitton Women’s collections Nicolas Ghesquière chose San Diego, “The Salk Institute for Biological Studies” as the evocative and emblematic setting of the Cruise 2023 show.
“I’d seen pictures of the Salk, it was on the cover of the Louis Vuitton magazine in 2019, and I was always curious to see it for real,” Ghesquière said.
“I was curious about the architecture and environment. So I came down to San Diego a couple of years ago and I didn’t get a chance to see it, but I saw La Jolla and the beach and I enjoyed the atmosphere.” He continued.
In a place of biomedical research, questions about humanity were at the heart of the minds of the most illustrious scholars in the world. The sun was an important aspect of the runway show. It played an active part in the evolution of this wardrobe where temperature changes set a stylistic tempo. The unique light of the West Coast created prisms across shimmering silhouettes, while a myriad of natural materials gave the illusion of a metallic palette.
Architect Louis Khan placed the sun in the centre of the Salk Institute, a 1965 Brutalist building designed as a concrete monastery for illuminated souls. Just during sunset, the sun was framed perfectly between the axes of the central fountain.
“I wanted the clothes to be like reflections, a point of contact between light and people” – Nicolas Ghesquière.
The collection was a cinematic interpretation of the sun, heat and light, as glimmering metallic fabrics were the lineup’s shining stars (pun intended). And cinematic was truly the only word that came to mind while watching models descend the makeshift catwalk at The Salk Institute — a nonprofit organization dedicated to biomedical research and considered one of the architectural wonders of the world — as the San Diego sun was setting, casting a glow on the already shimmery and costume-like gowns, matching sets and sporty separates.
The clothing — items that would have looked at home among the costumes in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune – included futuristic bolero jackets hung with tinsel, bomber jackets, metallic pants and jacquard gowns. Some models carried skateboards while others sported metallic striped boots and sneakers.
Louis Vuitton’s star-studded front row attracted several actresses including Gemma Chan, Emma Roberts, Samara Weaving, Chloë Grace Moretz, Bridgerton’s Phoebe Dynevor, Renate Reinsve, Ana de Armas, Deepika Padukone (Louis Vuitton’s first Indian brand ambassador) and Léa Seydoux, who will soon be heading to Cannes, where she will star in two new films. Leslie Mann attended with daughters Maude and Iris Apatow. Ava DuVernay, model Miranda Kerr, LACMA boss Michael Govan and wife Katherine Ross, Billie Lourd and husband Austen Rydell were also spotted.
Check out to see more photos from the LV Cruise ’23 runway show in San Diego.