Louis Vuitton’s Cruise 2027 show brought together ’80s pop art and Gen Z cultural influences
Nicolas Ghesquière unearths a Keith Haring-illustrated archive suitcase and builds an entire Cruise collection around it and the result is Louis Vuitton at its most culturally electrifying.
After rewriting the rules of Cruise with a Times Square runway, Demna’s Gucci Cruise show might have seemed like a hard act to follow, but not for Louis Vuitton. The French fashion house staged their 2027 Cruise Collection runway at New York’s Frick Collection, marking the first fashion activation ever held in the esteemed first-floor galleries.
Premiering Cruise collections in New York might seem contradictory, given they were initially designed for rich citydwellers seeking sunshine away from the hustle and bustle, but now the Gen Z gods that define the fashion sphere have decided that cottage-core and trad-wife aesthetics need to make way for the en vogue city-girl-chic look, it makes perfect sense.
Louis Vuitton has always been relevant, and never more so than now as the House celebrates the 130th anniversary of its esteemed Monogram, but the Maison has generally catered to a polished, more mature clientele; the stereotypical purveyors of luxury brands. By hosting a Cruise show in New York, with a collection dominated by the use of leather and Keith Haring motifs no less, the brand is proving its consistent ability to get with the programme.
As Women’s Artistic Designer of Louis Vuitton Nicolas Ghesquière prepared for the collection, he came across a 1930s leather suitcase deep in the LV archives, reworked with a graphic marker drawing by Keith Haring. Having made his name in the 1980s, Haring has recently gained new relevance at the hands of the next generation of young creatives. This one-of-a-kind piece, simultaneously a time capsule and timeless, became the backbone of the Louis Vuitton 2027 Cruise Collection.
Alongside a boxy crop top featuring the artist’s ‘Big Apple’ print, Haring’s artwork appeared on a leather bag, and pop-art spirit was also present in the pagoda-shoulder coat in the artist’s signature orange paired with a 3D outlined top-handle bag. Elsewhere in the collection, zebra print belts and satin sports shorts captured the unmistakable flair of ’80s New York.
The collection was a true collision of uptown and downtown, vintage and modern New York. Bloomer shots, stylised leather trenches and halo hair highlights à la Louis Vuitton ambassador Alysa Liu spoke to the House’s Gen Z influences, while double denim ensembles paid homage to classic American cowboy style. Sneakers
Credits:
Images courtesy of Louis Vuitton
Words: Cable Writers
