Louis Vuitton. Resort 2023
Nicolas Ghesquière held his Resort 2023 collection at the Salk Institute in San Diego, California, which if one knows their architectural history, encapsulates that 1950's and 1960's Béton brut architecture or in a more direct term, Brutalism. Designed by the late architect Louis I. Kahn who passed away under tragic circumstances in 1974. Kahn, although not a prolific architect, designed and created over his tenure what could be considered to be the epitome of brutalist structure. His monolithic buildings resonated a humanistic and spiritual connection to our place within nature, which at the end of the day is a structural defiance, if we are to survive nature's ferocity. To be that beacon in the dark even against our own human nature and levity. The building was dedicated to American Virologist Jonas Salk, who discovered the vaccine for polio, saving millions of children from this viral scourge. In the last years of his life he dedicated himself to find a cure for the AIDS virus.
I have reviewed Ghesquière's previous Louis Vuitton shows and noted his fascination with the dawn of the Nuclear Age that was the 1950's, in all of its hope, particularly after the ravages of Word War Two, it seemed briefly that technology would set us free. This is Ghesquière's Utopian aesthetic, which offered, at least from a romantic perspective, the possibility that we may envision human triumph over what has recently occurred, post the global pandemic. But, the obliquity of human ignorance before and after this viral outbreak with its obsession with economics that unfortunately has taken precedence over the sociological. We were lead by a maelstrom of misinformation, conspiracy theories and general anti-science in lieu of theCOVID-19 pandemic, which came to the fore via our digital relays.
Is it ok to be pessimistic as opposed to Ghesquière's modernist based optimism? Or can we mix the both and arrive at Albert Camus's philosophy of the absurd, by being that rebel, as quoted by Camus: "... obstinately confronts a world condemned to death and the impenetrable obscurity of the human condition with his demand for life and absolute clarity." What ever one may chose in light of our dramatic shift occurring on the Earth and for that matter, our place in the cosmos, to which we maybe at a tipping point. Yet, one has to admire Ghesquière's determination in drawing from the timelines of Utopian positivity, at least from a science fiction narrative and if you have the monetary weight that the LVMH group can deliver, all the power.
And Ghesquière has certainly embraced that financial avoirdupois, with his latest Resort collection setting further in place his ascent into the fictionalized world, which is his version of the Louis Vuitton distingue. It is by far the most SciFi influenced collection to date with Ghesquière inserting the amorous trend of 2019, prior to the pandemic, with its libidinous stylizations. Exaggerated shoulder pads, crop tops with Ghesquière's mastery of crafting synthetics such as polyester and polyamide, while blending cotton and silks. Chrome and metallic fabrics can been see throughout, indicative of the 50's and 60's Space Age and the protective insulation of silver. There is a Rick Owens retro 1970's esque feel to the collection, who has in turn borrowed heavily from the late costume designer Larry LeGaspi. The collection is less raw than the Fall 2022 styles which maybe Ghesquière opting out of experimenting with thrift looks and returning to his, as mention, modernist 1950's nostalgic of a Utopian future that never was.
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A.Glass 2022
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