Over the weekend I had the chance to visit the Louis Vuitton Series 3 Exhibition located at the Strand in London. The Exhibition allowed the public to witness firsthand the creative process behind a Louis Vuitton fashion show, specifically the Autumn/Winter 2015 collection created by their Women's Artistic Director: Nicolas Ghesquière.
As you walk through Series 3, you begin to gain a wider insight into the different influences behind the show, starting with an almost interactive digital experience showcasing the mind of Ghesquière, whose fashion credentials include a long and incredibly successful run at Balenciaga. This room allows you to feel exactly where the creative process is first sparked- and it is pretty surreal. The room literally spins with a montage of flickering LV images on the wall, providing a glimpse into the whirlwind of inspiration Ghesquière used to embark on this collection.
From this point, there are different rooms, some that display the processes intrinsic to developing the high end luxurious products that Louis Vuitton create, for example a futuristic black room that illustrates how the leather is cut in order to create their iconic Petite Malle, whilst another displays live artisan workers piecing them together by hand. These rooms are in contrast to the brightly lit spaces dedicated to showcasing the finished products. As you come out of the dimly lit rooms (and sometimes not lit at all so mind your step!), you are blasted with light in an all white space, filled with models holding exquisite handbags- the hard work materialised. It is almost as if Ghesquière wants your mind to work in the same way his did, focusing intensely to see through the darkness of the earlier stages (initial creativity, production and so on), leading up to the absolute clarity of the finished pieces.
I had two favourite spaces, the first being every girls dream- a room filled with beautiful glass wardrobes displaying this Louis Vuitton collection in its entirety. I loved the layout, especially the way in which clothes were hanging and bags put neatly in their compartment (think Carrie Bradshaw's walk-in-wardrobe in a Paris apartment overlooking the Eiffel Tower). My standout piece was the enormous shaggy white fur coat, for which you would need your own personal chauffeured Bentley in order to keep clean- the height of luxury. My other favourite room involved the digital runway, spaced out to feel like you are actually at the Louis Vuitton Autumn/Winter 2015 Fashion Show, featuring life sized computerised models storming towards you. I loved this idea because it gives you a real feeling for the collection, adding another dimension in the sense that you see the fluidity of the clothes, witnessing the layering of different pieces which showcased a seventies feel (lots of leopard print, fur and chain belts). You are able to see the clothes exactly how Ghesquière intended.
As you leave the exhibition, the idea of lighting is inverted. Where once the darkness of the rooms represented a hazy mind, the darkness of this room allows a single spotlight to illuminate the word 'mastermind', a word synonymous with Ghesquière. Overall, my experience of Series 3 was very positive. I have always loved Louis Vuitton as a brand, having had special experiences visiting its flagship store in Paris. There is something classically charming about Louis Vuitton and Ghesquière manages to capture this feeling even in his very innovative and modern work!
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