Louis Vuitton. Fall 2022 RTW - Paris Fashion Week.

(Images: Louis Vuitton 2022)

With the pandemic somewhat abating and what has been deemed as a return to the normal, which could be amiss in its description, as we, the human race have stepped out of one crisis into another. Hyper consumption within its hyperreal entanglement, mixed with our obsession of celebrity and the cult of fame, have millions of people tuning its social media feeds for inspiration, more so TikTok, with the so called influences racking up thousands of followers.  Have we all just become resellers of the aesthetic?  While, after the invasion of Ukraine, Russia's propaganda machines have turned their attention to social media users, like TikTok and with Twitter now owned by an autocratic billionaire who advocates free speech for extreme right wingers.   It really does seem that humanity is reaching a peak.

And even though we may see these fixations of the human condition gloomy and even nihilistic in its observation, Nicolas Ghesquière's creative direction for the fashion powerhouse Louis Vuitton has offered many glimpses to his positive and Utopian inspired styles that, in its hope of something new and inspiring can rise from the ashes.  Yes, this might sound dramatic, at least from a fictional sense to what Ghesquière has subscribed with many of his prior collections, as a designer who turned storied concepts into a reality, to which Ghesquière, during his tenure with Louis Vuitton has excelled.  Combining his fusion of 1950's Utopian modernist visuals of an age when Atomic energy and the discovery of the computer chip gave us hope, through to 1960's counter culture stylizations, with dashes of 1970's and 1980's hedonism.

But, as the spectra of a new Cold War looms and a return to living under the shadow of nuclear annihilation once again is a reality,  Ghesquière for his Fall 2022 collection has reinvigorated that much loved 70's and 80's hedonist appeal, which before the pandemic and throughout the lockdowns we have seen a return to the eros.  And in past seasons Ghesquière has shown to be a master in compressing the said era's into his defined futurism looks.  His new collection offers a heavily textured and layered affair, 47 styles in total, reworking 1980's formal attire with preppy and avant-garde tweaks, which although may sound paradoxical, the combination is not overly dramatic.  With a mix of the petticoat inspired skirts, revealed for Louis Vuitton's Spring 2022 collection, his oversized suiting styles ensure that the collection is not overly conservative. However, compared to Ghesquière's futurist styled concepts of past seasons, it does feel toned down and less experimental than previous showings.

Ghesquière works best when he is melding his 50's and 60's template of futurist idealisms, rather than what appears to be an Alexandro Michele of Gucci 'thrift' look inspiration, with only small quantities of Ghesquière's science fiction modernism intertwined within the collection.  Which gives his latest array a slightly confusing presentation, without doubting the fine craftsmanship and detailing that Ghesquière is renowned for, particularly the tailored inspired blazers with their 1980's esque power shoulder pads.  He seems to be trying to fuse his eclectic timelines, while at the same time drawing looks from other runway trends, making his 2022 collection seem out of sync, as opposed to his more ardent styles before the pandemic.  And I wonder, if this gloomier time ascending over world, could be disrupting those Utopian fixtures, Ghesquière had been influenced by earlier in his career.

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A.Glass 2022