‘Twas quite the garden party at Louis Vuitton’s Spring/Summer 2023 show, which took place at Paris’ Louvre Museum on Oct 4. And while all the traditional elements were there: floral prints, billowing blouses, dainty, colorful hosiery, and frilly dresses, there were some very untraditional ones as well. In fact, it seems creative director Nicolas Ghesquière took the “go big or go home” adage and, well, ran with it.
Firstly, there was the jaw-dropping set design, the brainchild of contemporary artist Philippe Parreno and production designer James Chinlund, which included a crimson “monster flower” for the models to march through. That should’ve been a dead giveaway to attendees of the larger than life show that was to come.
Yes, it seems the common feminine elements of spring were literally supersized as the often more minimal accessories — belts, earrings, and hardware — were enlarged and made to be the more focal point of the ensemble, as opposed to an afterthought. “Femininity is at the heart of the matter and Louis Vuitton joins the conversation: looking at it through emphasis, glorifying its complexity, magnifying it, putting it in the spotlight,” read the official show notes. “It's a stylistic exercise that re-evaluates the proportions of clothing and its adjuncts, one in which the codes of femininity unsettle scale.”
Unsettle, indeed. The vivacious collection was a single file procession of unexpected look after unexpected look. Feathery shift dresses were thrown atop lacy T-shirts and offset with large, clunky knee-high lug-sole boots. Leather trapeze-style halter frocks and tops featured dramatic thick straps at the neck and hemline. And everything from trench coats and blouses to dresses and mini skirts included jumbo zippers and buttons that felt surreal and almost cartoon-like.
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JULIEN DE ROSA/AFP/Getty Images
Another oversized element that stood out as a worthy trend for 2023 was the waist belt. Serving almost as armor, the supersized leather accessory was shown in neutral colorways, from camel to black, and included gold hardware to up the luxe factor. And while statement belts have quietly been making their way back into the style sphere this past year, Ghesquière is seemingly announcing their return with gusto.
One more key fixture? The presence of large, statement bags. Teetering on the unwieldy and surreal, jumbo clutches and even a house-shaped handle bag proved over-the-top accessories are coming for you hard in the coming year. And, while these exaggerated looks may seem intimidating at first glance, the brand presents them as a sort of formulaic balancing act that’s not only approachable, but wearable.
JULIEN DE ROSA/AFP/Getty Images
JULIEN DE ROSA/AFP/Getty Images
“The infinitely large and the infinitely small come together on silhouettes, inviting a second look,” explain the show notes. “The Spring/Summer 2023 women's collection zooms in on the details, highlights them, gives them their due.” Said details are also an homage to the heritage brand’s roots. “What's more, these are integral to the genesis narrative, the DNA of the Maison,” reads the notes. “A lock, a label, a clasp, a corner piece on a trunk, a buckle, a zip... These are the custodians of a story that endures.”
Check out more of the supersized collection below.
Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images
Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images
Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images
Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images
Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images
Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images
Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images
Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images
Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images
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Nicolas Ghesquière Supersizes Reality at Louis Vuitton
Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
Dresses with necklines that resemble supersized airplane neck pillows. Belts subverted and reappropriated onto jackets and the legs of pants. Little flippy leather dresses with massive chain shoulders. These were the elements on view at the Louis Vuitton carnival that was its spring 2023 presentation. There, utilitarian details became highly ornamental and the Louvre transformed into a monster flower that also looked like a cherry red circus tent designed by French contemporary artist Philippe Parreno and production designer James Chinlund.
For spring 2023, creative director Nicolas Ghesquière zoomed into the smallest of functional details and supersized them for maximum impact. Teeny dresses drowned in big zippers, squiggly line patterns mixed with giant buttons, bows became larger than life, and giant waist-cincher belts flanked leather babydoll dresses.
Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty ImagesPhoto by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty ImagesPhoto by Estrop/Getty ImagesPhoto by Estrop/Getty ImagesPhoto by Francois Durand/Getty ImagesPhoto by Estrop/Getty ImagesPhoto by Francois Durand/Getty ImagesPhoto by Francois Durand/Getty ImagesPhoto by Francois Durand/Getty ImagesPhoto by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty ImagesPhoto by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
Overall, there were different layers and levels of humor in the collection. A Victorian dollhouse was carried as a bag. Harnesses dripped off of dresses with floppy, undone belts in jumbo sizes. And the zippers that came on graphic outerwear, pants and sweaters went beyond the size of even the boldest and biggest pieces of jewelry.
Ghesquière has defined the aesthetic of Louis Vuitton by getting a firm grasp on newness and the ease of change—but spring 2023 felt extra playful in a way we hadn’t quite seen from the brand before. The roots and craftsmanship of the typical Louis Vuitton collection were all there, seen through the lush patchwork leathers, cargo pockets done in immaculate form, mermaid-blue textured trousers, and tiger print coats.
Photo by Estrop/Getty Images Photo by Francois Durand/Getty ImagesPhoto by Estrop/Getty ImagesPhoto by Estrop/Getty ImagesPhoto by Francois Durand/Getty Images Photo by Francois Durand/Getty ImagesPhoto by Francois Durand/Getty ImagesBut Ghesquière also took trompe l’oeil to another level, with embroidery that resembled macro versions of tweed. The design team used 3-D scanners to transfer fabric images to computers and blow them up to 500 percent, in order to highlight each thread and all of its texture. A blouse closure from Ghesquière’s second collection was zoomed in on and turned into an entire dress. “There’s an emphasis on the identifiers of femininity,” the designer said in a statement. “I took a lot of details from previous collections and highlighted them; I deliberately showed because creativity is circular, it loops back...like the layout of Philippe’s set: a luminous circle around this strange flower.”
The excess of it all felt like a pause (or refresher) in the sometimes-stiff universe of Louis Vuitton. “What could outrageous femininity be—the idea of outrageousness in femininity, the clichés of ultra-femininity—as seen stylistically through a ‘female gaze?’” asked Ghesquière in a statement. “The way of zooming in on the details of a garment that interests women because they know them so well. You could say that I approached hyper-femininity in its most literal sense. Emphasized it. Changed the play of proportions, found a new balance in scale.”
Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty ImagesPhoto by Estrop/Getty ImagesPhoto by Estrop/Getty ImagesPhoto by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty ImagesPhoto by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
The collection felt hyperreal in its distorted proportions, since it also revealed a sense of mixed reality. We’re in an era in which the lines are constantly blurred between real life and our phones, even at the very shows happening during fashion month—pinching our screens to zoom in for a closer look, or watching through the screens of others. Ghesquière perfectly cemented a collection to end fashion month—with a sort of black humor take on voyeurism and how it can be transformed into a fleeting fashion moment that still feels covetable.