Nicolas Ghesquière On Why He Brought Louis Vuitton’s Cruise Show Back to NYC

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1:00Nicolas Ghesquière:This is The Run Through. I'm Nicole Phelps. I'm here with Nicolas Ghesquière, Women's Artistic Director at Louis Vuitton. Welcome, Nicolas. I'm so happy to be with you. Thank you, Nicole, and thanks for having me. Yes. We did this a couple of years ago, but we were both remote, so it's nice to be in the same room together. And it's nice to have you in New York. You are here because you have a Resort 2027 show. Yes. And often in the past, we've gone to quite far-flung locations. Rio, the Niteroi Museum there, the Miho Museum outside of Kyoto. Why come to New York at this moment? I always loved New York and the feeling, you know, of like getting into the city and enjoying the energy of the city, especially for a foreigner and especially for a French person, is always very, you know, unique.

1:55Every time you get, you know, hit by the beauty of the city. And last time we were there for a show was 2019. And we approached the cruise collection in a different way. We show at the TWA terminal in GFK. Yes. And it was fun because we took the New Yorker and the guests of the show outside the city to an airport, to the airport, without taking the plane. And that was kind of, you know, very funny to do that. And, of course, also to make them rediscover an iconic, beautiful building, which is the Saarinen Terminal in the airport. So it was a reveal of the construction that was done for years. So I consider that we were outside the city and the collection was paying homage to New York, but in a very different way.

2:54We were celebrating the skyline. We were celebrating this vision you have when you drive by, when you drive in, when you get into the city. And that was beautiful to do that. But this time, we are in town. And that's why, you know, we felt that it was the right moment to come to New York and to be in town, in Manhattan especially. So, it's a very different approach. And then, of course, you know, the location is really special to me.

3:32Nicolas Ghesquière:So, you're going to the Frick Collection, which has just had an incredible renovation and expansion. Wonderful, very beautiful renovation. That's, you know, for those cruise collection, you have a dream list. And I always had one. And I still have, you know, some boxes to cross for the future. And the freak was on my list. Why for a cruise? It's because the feeling of that, you know, that winter garden that they have there with the fountain is a very iconic image for me of the Gilded Age of New York. And there is that idea of traveling. There is that idea of cruise for me, for, you know, for the imaginary.

4:18You know, a cruise collection is complex because it's done for people that's supposed to travel with summer clothes and winter. But, of course, today it doesn't mean anything really. I mean, it still means something, but it doesn't mean really, you know, that you physically travel with those clothes. So this is a very interesting collection in a way you mix season. You mix texture and feelings and winter and summer doesn't matter for a cruise collection. So it's great. And I think the Frick was a very beautiful, is a very beautiful place to express that because it has this kind of, you know, out of season feeling between the beautiful galleries of, you know, Objet d 'Art and the incredible painting they have.

5:14the fine art and the wood, the wood galleries that are absolutely beautiful. And again, the winter garden that is very about stone and water, you know, you have all those feelings. So for me, it was just, you know, when we came, we were here in November for a visit and I wanted to see the wonderful work of Annabelle Seldorf. And, well, we came out of the museum with a few friends and collaborators, and we were like, this is so, you know, dreamy. It's just such a wonderful playground for a cruise collection. So that's why we're here, yeah.

5:56Nicolas Ghesquière:Tell me about knowing that you're going to show in the Frick Collection alongside Priceless Art. How does that impact how you design? Ha! It's interesting in the way that every cruise collection is also a celebration culturally of where we go. Japan, Brazil, as you say, Italy, Spain, we've been to many places. Every time we consider we arrive as foreigners and we bring the collection with us and you pay homage to where you are. So it's true that the freak is extremely sophisticated. I mean, the Rembrandt, the Vermeer, and this is intimidating. But it's also a place where people used to live in a grand way, of course, you know, again, the Gilded Age.

6:43And this was a home first. And that is very interesting to imagine whose character would walk in that home and evolve in this home today, you know, and it's what the collection is about. And it's also something that is extremely Louis Vuitton. Since few years, we have the chance to show in the Louvre Museum in Paris. And it's a bad habit somehow, you know, to be able to show your fashion into those extraordinary galleries that present to the world the most exquisite and unique objet d 'art again. And yes, the freak is that too. So it's intimidating, and at the same time, it makes so much sense with the cultural world of Louis Vuitton.

7:32Nicolas Ghesquière:And so, as I understand it, beyond the show, Vuitton is supporting the museum for the next three years. Is that correct? Right. We have different phases in partnership, like facilitating entrance for people on a Friday, I think it is. There's a Friday LV. there is supporting some exhibition too. So this is important to me, important to Vuitton, that it's not a one-shot. It's so, you know, being partner and being invited to be partner in such like a beautiful institution is an honor. So it was important that it was not going to be a one-night show, but a true collaboration, a true partnership. So you touched on this a bit, but talk a bit more about what appeals to you about a resort collection.

8:31Nicolas Ghesquière:How do you design differently for resort versus the main seasons, which you, of course, show in Paris? Well, the resort, there's a thematic that is usually more narrative. There's a story that is important to tell. It's the story of traveling. It's the story of, yeah, traveling with a collection, traveling somewhere. What is the fantasy of that destination? Everyone, when they travel, have images in their head. It could be something somewhere you discover or somewhere you go for a hundred times and you will have a different feeling every time. And New York is so rich culturally and in beauty that it has, of course, this very strong resonance.

9:23And so the approach is that. It's like how are we going to celebrate that in a subtle way? this time I was very interesting to explore again the downtown uptown duality confrontation harmony and it's of course something extremely famous and that defines New York you know what's really where is the line really between downtown and uptown where is the line you know culturally between in those people. And that's an extremely intriguing research for me. And when I share that with the team, which is quite simple, you know, we're going to New York and we're going to try to explore what's the relationship between downtown and uptown.

10:14Everyone was really, really enthusiastic about it because it's collective. We all have an image. We all have sometimes, you know, like fantasies or like visions of who's that woman, who's that person who evolved and lived uptown and who's the person who lived downtown and when also. And that was very important. So I think I should talk about my first trip in New York. Oh, please. I was 18. I was with friends. We were staying in a friend's apartment on Lafayette Street. It was a fascinating trip for me because, you know, it was So was in full transformation, but it had a lot of old so still, but a new so was emerging.

11:07And so it was really a shock for me to see that you could live in those cool buildings and apartments, and there was literally the opposite of Paris somehow, you know. And I remember visiting as a tourist, but also getting into galleries, getting into friends' apartments that were artists, getting into designers' places. And, of course, that created a really strong impact, I think, in my aesthetic when I later became a designer. And so, the second part of the trip, I also went uptown. I think I walked uptown, actually. I'm pretty sure we did walk. And so the beauty of, you know, everyone knows how Central Park is so incredible.

11:57And also the flashback of movies that I have seen in France when I was, you know, younger. And then suddenly I was there. So the sole thing, I don't think that thing ever disappeared, honestly, in your head when you first visit New York and you discover the richness of the city. So, yes, it's there. So the collection will be about that. The collection expressed that.

12:24Nicolas Ghesquière:So the last time you were on Vogue's podcast, you said something that really lingered with me. You said that fashion needs aesthetic danger. Yeah. And so I thought, especially I was reminded of that this past season in Paris because your collection, you took it to extremes. The proportions were really strong. And will this show have aesthetic danger, would you say? I think it's proportioned, yeah. There's always, you know, a collection is always something that express and talk about, you know, people who you love and people you love without knowing them and you wish they would wear those clothes.

13:09So, of course, there is something very, I would say, everyday life about it. Very wearable in a good way, of course. But there is also that hybridation that I love, that mélange, that mix that is very personal. And I think that's where the balance of the collection is important. And you're right, the last collection in Paris was very nomadic. It was expressing something about Vuitton, it's about this travel, and it was about fighting the elements and the weather. and how in the past, you know, people were like, you know, traveling and walking in the woods and the fields and in the mountains and how they were carrying their house.

14:00And for me, this was a story that had to be told for Vuitton because it was connected to the story of Louis Vuitton himself coming from Dura, walking through the mountains and the woods, learning some techniques to arrive in Paris and had a vision for what became his company. And it's true that Paris is a great platform also for that. I think with New York, there's something more subtle about it.

14:35Nicolas Ghesquière:Speaking of that show in March, I saw reports. People called it bog core. Did you happen to see that? Because of the moss and the mountains and the natural world. You seem to be really keying into outdoor clothes from across world history. Without the tech. It was not tech. It was outdoor clothes but not technical. or technical in the ancient way, that they were protecting you from the rain, but because the wool is very filtered, so it's a natural protection. But no, I didn't hear that. I'm happy to know. Yes. So, well, moving on from bog core, we are still solidly in the month of May. And of course, at the beginning of May, the first Monday of May was the Met Gala, and you dressed Olympic gold medalist figure skater and your new house ambassador, Alyssa Leo.

15:35Nicolas Ghesquière:So tell us about the look, please. Oh, well, I want to talk about how we first, you know, met and how, you know, I reached Elisa and asked her if she wanted to join the house. I mean, like many people, I discovered her during the Cortina Winter Olympics in February. And, I mean, she won, you know, two gold medals. I think it's the first American athlete that won at those Olympics to gold medals. And just her style was really inspiring. Her performance is crazy. I mean, how she flies on ice. And honestly, I didn't watch much of ice skating before that, except for the clothes sometimes as an inspiration.

16:27There is sometimes really interesting things. things and they put in such extreme conditions to have you know to do all those very beautiful movement and dance on ice is extremely inspiring so when I saw her and her signature look with her cool hair and the stripe on the hair and I was like oh my god she's really like someone I would love to meet one day and yeah so we reached and And she responds, which is always a great story. You know, when you dream to dress someone and to start to collaborate with someone, to have a positive answer is fantastic. And so we met. She came to the show in Paris.

17:16We met and we connected extremely well. So I'm super proud and honored that she joined the house. And yeah, that's also, you know, I grew up doing a lot of sports and I think it's also a certain celebration of the body, the athletic body. And I think it's so beautiful to see her. And I connected again with, you know, when I was extremely young and I was like looking at those athletes and how they dressed and how they perform and how inspiring it was. So I guess it's coming also from something very special in my personal history.

17:56Nicolas Ghesquière:Her confidence is so alluring, right? It is. It is. Absolutely. Yeah. You seem to have a very strong connection with your muses. I think of Jennifer Connelly. I think of Emma Stone. I mean, they're really your friends as much as they're your muses. But talk about that relationship between a designer and a muse. how you know what appeals to you about those women in particular like what makes a Nicolas Gessier muse I believe we always choose each other somehow you know there is really that idea of like Alissa like you reach you send messages somehow with your fashion and you see if there is a response I'm very lucky to work and collaborate and be friends with a lot of not actually not a lot few of the most inspiring woman in the world for me.

18:53There's a lot of loyalty too in an industry where changes are always needed and always asked. It's so extremely, I appreciate very much that this loyalty is strong. And I've been friends and working with Jennifer for, I won't say, but it's like a few decades now. And of course, yeah, Emma. But it's also the talk we have about their project has not only as actresses, but also as producers, as entrepreneurs, you know, how today it's extremely important for me to be next to them in their different type of project. And we speak about that, too. We don't only speak about fashion. And I'm always very flattered to be asked when they need to be very confident when they have to promote something or to show themselves for an artistic reason.

19:57So it's very about art at the beginning of the story and how we share some, I think, a common aesthetic or how we feed each other or we inspire each other. And also, when I see the choices of movie they do, for me, it's, I don't know, it's a full, they open doors in my imagination. And that's what is beautiful about this relationship. And really, I love to collaborate. I love when we speak about the dress. I speak about with, of course, the stylists that are advising them and support them when they have a big tour and a big promotion. But I also speak directly with them. And it's great, you know, because it's how they feel at that moment.

20:47It's how they want to, you know, be seen at that moment. So to consider that I could be a shoulder for them to support that moment for me is a great honor. Yes.

21:00Nicolas Ghesquière:I mean, it is so many eyes, so many millions of eyes on these women and men at these moments. And so I appreciate that idea that you're their shoulder. Yeah, it has become extremely, you know, judgmental. And confidence is something you have to share with friends and with people you love. So we decide things together and we go for it and we own it. and like it or not at the end of the day we move on and that's very important I think to be a group of people to be camarades to be next to each other when yeah you confronted to judgment yeah so speaking of other another very long relationship I believe that you've worked with your casting director Ashley Brokaw for many years too so I'd love to hear a bit about you know, what you're thinking about casting for this show in New York?

22:02Ashley is an extremely talented woman and a great collaborator for also, I think it's in two decades. And we did incredible work at Balenciaga already. she's a pioneer because she's someone that really also has a lot of loyalty and when she finds someone that has a potential she's extremely careful because you know those girls are really young and this is very important to create a safe environment for models And I think the actuality is saying how much, you know, this is extremely important to be well-surrounded. And Ashley is first also someone that is really, really good at that. Like she would introduce you a talent, a girl.

23:03And then when we start to work together, we make sure every step of the evolution of her first presentation, when it's about a show or a campaign, is something that corresponds to her, how she feels about it. And we've been, you know, we work with Freya Beha, with Rianne, with like, which there is the list of girls that we, I don't want to say we discover because I think it's the same kind of thing. The girl accepts also to join the story and to stay with us in the studio for the fittings and to, you know, like, I believe, you know, the models are really a big part of our work. and they also participate in creation, especially also the fitting models, you know, that are there with us all the time.

23:57All day. And so to come back to Ashley, well, that's what I love about her first is that safety in a way that I know that I'm talking to someone who's going to be extremely respectful to who she's working with. And then, yeah, I mean, we have a lot of fun. I mean, we, like, reach some people that are different, you know, also, that don't do that, that don't model. And we did, like, a few shows that were completely different than the classic casting. This one is also that. I have a few people, a few girls in the show that are not models. They are talent. and for me they also represent different facets of of of in a plural way the American woman women yeah right it's like this is this is so beautiful to see how rich America is in in representation and and so the show it's hard in the show of course to say everything but I want I wanted to express that in the show so so Ashley helped me to cast few people and there's some friends of the house doing the show too yeah Alana Haim is working the show.

25:09I mean, she's, for me, she's an American. She's a Los Angeles girl, but she's so, you know, a fantastic American. I mean, for me, she represents an American girl too. And, I mean, we found this artist, Maddie, who's like, she's doing rap. And so we have like a few characters. I'd like to call them characters because they really are, yeah, inspiring. So it's good also because the models evolve also in an environment when they can express their personality next to someone like that. They're not just models. They are like young girls that express their individuality through the close to on the show.

25:54And that was always important. And I think it's something, this vision, I share it to Ashley too. We don't, you know, in fashion, you say you clone the girl sometimes. They look all the same. And it happened in some shows.

26:07Nicolas Ghesquière:It's something that I really associate with a long time ago, you know, 2010s, you know. Thank God we're not in that moment anymore. For some collection, you know, this kind of surrealistic vision was really about cloning. And then this time, I think it's totally gone. And individuality is winning, I would say. And that's very interesting. I think of course yeah can we also talk about Marie Amélie Sauvé yes please because that is another incredible relationship where you know you work together at Balenciaga and you work together at Vuitton is it 12 years now 12 years 13 years 13 years 13 years what makes your relationship work so well oh you should ask her um ha ha um she's my woman's side, I would say.

27:02She's my woman's eyes. She's keeping me very we were talking about, you know, secure and confident and she's keeping me inspired also in my choices. She's also, you know, showing me things that are very inspiring but in a very subtle way. You know, she's someone that... She gave me my first job when I was very young and without knowing if I was going to be able to do it. And it was in Italy and we were... She was starting to freelance herself and we just met a few months, a few weeks before and she had this offer and she reached me and she said, do you want to do it with me? And it's where our story started, not as friend, as collaborator.

28:01And then we became extremely close and she's family to me. But of course, again, loyalty. I love this idea of evolving together. I love the idea. I don't know why I'm a tourist. This is something maybe that comes from also my education. isn't it beautiful when you can you are lucky to evolve and to go on in life with people that knows you that you know well and then you can share things and then it's what is Mara Milly for me it's that constant inspiration and she's challenging me always there is this research that is very important for her she's coming from pictures She worked at Vogue when she was very young too.

28:50She grew up shooting with Guy Bourdin, Helmut Newton, many iconic photographers. And so when we first start to work together, it was very interesting because her vision was really about a picture and how the clothes and the character of the girls would be represented. I was more into, you know, designing, of course, but also movement and how the clothes would move on the girl and how that would be real for a fashion show. And so this was, I think, a very interesting, we kind of complete each other. Can you say that in English? We, you know, she will go with that vision and I will try to feed that vision knowing that I want the clothes to be impactful visually, but I want the clothes to be real first.

29:49So that's very interesting. And it's still a discussion we have, you know. She reacts to things. And I'm like, oh, okay, but I need to work more because it is a great visually, a very interesting thing. It's surprising. It looks fresh. But what we want is to make it something that people will enjoy to wear. And it's where, you know, this is a constant dialogue together. So very, very important, yeah.

30:16Nicolas Ghesquière:I should have said at the beginning that Marie-Emily is your longtime stylist. You have worked together. She's more than a stylist. We can say stylist, but her world, I would say, has expanded a lot. My world has expanded a lot for the last years. And she also expanded. She created a magazine, Mastermind, who's a real reference now. And I should also say one of the chicest women in fashion and beyond.

30:48Nicolas Ghesquière:Okay, we're going to take a quick break.