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For Cruise 2026, Women’s Artistic Director Nicolas Ghesquière took Louis Vuitton back in time. The runway was the Palais des Papes in Avignon, a former seat of the papacy and a towering monument to medieval excess. With its cloisters, crenellations, and heavy shadows, it’s a place where power was once negotiated in brocade, not briefs. Now, centuries later, Louis Vuitton returns to the stone-clad halls with a collection ready for both council and crusade.
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The collection leaned to Joan of Arc-core. Ghesquière’s heroines marched out in sculptural silhouettes that blended battlefield and ballroom. Glinting metallics—mirrored mosaics, hammered grommets, and reflective panels—caught the floodlights like armor at dusk. Coats of arms were translated into striped motifs, slouchy boots into cavalier swagger. It was pageantry as personal style: a lavish exercise in drama, grounded by the steady confidence of a designer who knows his history.
There was something almost liturgical in the color story—blues that called to stained glass, reds with the richness of wax seals, and golds that evoked halos and altar finery. Embroidery became scripture: swirling florals lifted from illuminated manuscripts, scrolling across mini dresses and leather panels. On the feet, open-toed booties shimmered with ecclesiastical flair—sock-like and sparkling, halfway between relic and rave gear.
Accessories deepened the medieval narrative. Signature bags like the Alma appeared in hand-painted iterations, their surfaces bearing the same devotional intricacy as stained glass or manuscript margins. A collaboration with artist Thomas Roger Wood introduced a sculptural wooden box, subtly nodding to medieval rituals. The Side Trunk returned in fresh detail, while the newly revived Express bag brought streamlined contrast to the ornate setting.
Amid all the historic flourish, Ghesquière’s signatures remained intact: the athletic kick of a mini skirt, the exaggerated geometry of a shoulder line, the unexpected tech in fabrications. His muses may channel saints and sovereigns, but they move through a thoroughly modern world.
The emotional high note was the sense of fashion as performance—not in the theatrical sense, but as presence. Dressing up as a means of declaring intent. Travel, after all, isn’t always across geography. Sometimes, it’s a shift in posture and a new silhouette, crafted in sequins, steel, and silk.
Louis Vuitton has long embraced the spirit of movement. This time, it wandered through time as well as space—and returned with a wardrobe ready for the next crusade, wherever it may lead.
Photos courtesy of LOUIS VUITTON
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