Portraits by Justine Triet, Fashion Photographs by Steven Meisel.
The ideas have had a journeyand a life.
The studio is bright and spare, with fine cream-colored carpeting and Vuitton bags arranged on open metal shelves.
ALL INGhesquière with his black Labradors Léon and Achille at his country home outside of Paris.Sittings Editor: Amanda Harlech.Produced by Tann Services.
Did you enjoy China?
Ghesquiere asks Quenby, who had walked in Ghesquieres show in Shanghai the previous month.
It was fun, she says, while making another march down the runway.
FRINGE FESTIVALModel Lulu Tenney wears Louis Vuitton (here and throughout); select Louis Vuitton boutiques.Fashion Editor: Grace Coddington.
Ghesquiere turns to his team.
Beautiful, says Sauve.
The flowers will look great, he says.
STEP LIVELYModel Lulu Tenney wears Louis Vuitton (here and throughout); select Louis Vuitton boutiques.
STEP LIVELYModel Lulu Tenney wears Louis Vuitton (here and throughout); select Louis Vuitton boutiques.
Fashion used to be forweirdpeople, Ghesquiere tells me at one point, with a laugh.
Dealing with the acceleration has become important, he explains.
LET IT FLOW“[Ghesquière] is working on a type of femininity—this sharp and strong woman,” says his former protégé Julien Dossena, now at Rabanne. Model Sascha Rajasalu wears Louis Vuitton (here and throughout).
The studio has grown, the atelier has grown, and we have had to adapt, he says.
Now, after a moment sitting in thought, Ghesquiere rises to inspect the board.
I think three skirts are enough, he says cautiously.
BELLE OF THE BALLGhesquière’s designs are at once Parisian and international, tailored enough for the office but romantic enough for the after-party—while remaining emblematically themselves.
We have four skirts, but that means we repeat a shape, which Im not crazy about.
No, Buonomano says, standing up suddenly.
Youre rightthe skirt that goes on the side!
AIR APPARENTGhesquière’s virtuosity runs the gamut from theflouto thetailleur—but it’s also animated by his singular spirit.
he exclaims with a wide smile.
And America grins and says hi back.
Im conscious of the possibility of celebrating different representations, Ghesquiere says.
SHOW AND TELLLong lines and a sensual cut work together to make sparkled magic.Produced by PRODn.
I hadnt understood what he meant until I saw it on the runway.
The pieces were paired with little ankle boots that drew out the long, straight form of the leg.
It was his own taste, and it fit with Vuitton.
DOG DAYSGhesquière and his partner, Drew Kuhse, with Léon, Achille, and (in Kuhse’s arms) Banjo, a greyhound-terrier mix and new addition to the family.Produced by Tann Services.
Soon the profile was everywhere, and the brand, too.
When Ghesquiere joined Louis Vuitton, the house was doing nine billion dollars a year in retail.
Nicolas built codes at Louis Vuitton, where ready-to-wear is actually quite recent, Beccari says.
LOOKING THE PARTGhesquière’s Louis Vuitton on Sora Choi and Imaan Hammam.
What was a new silhouette 10 years ago is now the heraldry of luxurys largest empire.
Model Sascha Rajasalu wears Louis Vuitton (here and throughout).
Hes also a maniac for detail and for the construction of the clothes.
THE LIGHT STUFFGhesquière’s Louis Vuitton on Adut Akech.
Ghesquiere himself is wary of the comparison, and protective of the idea of Lagerfelds uniqueness.
He wears black trousers and a Gaultierian mariniere (also known as a mime shirt).
Dressing is a way of expressing yourself in ways that have been, sometimes, forbidden, he says.
GRAB AND GOGhesquière’s Louis Vuitton on Rachel Brosnahan (with Oscar Isaac).
ThatswhyI wanted to take the jobI was conscious of the possibility of celebrating different representations, he says.
(The manga collection ended up a great retail success.)
Of course, were creating luxury, and not everyone can afford what we do.
Nicolas Ghesquière, photographed by Justine Triet.
But the way that anyone can recognize themselves in it is free.
Ghesquiere appreciates these subtler points of influence, in part because so much about Vuitton seems big and booming.
He is proud of new models who have their first walks on his runway.
Its also a way to protect the models, he explains.
Being the new darling was very stimulating, he says dryly.
You always remember that momentand think, maybe, its never gone.
AIR APPARENTGhesquieres virtuosity runs the gamut from theflouto thetailleurbut its also animated by his singular spirit.
You know youre never going to be the surprise of the day, he says.
But you could still be the surprise of the season, if you see what I mean.
(He wont say who has received this beneficence.)
As a mentor, hes invested in the idea of designers aiming not just for success but for endurance.
When Dossena made the leap to the helm of Rabanne in 2014, Ghesquiere offered counsel.
For a man in the business of endurance, Ghesquieres life has lately been in startling flux.
This is something Ive always hadthe need toinitiatesomething, he explains.
The Vuitton atelier is a space of both tradition and modernity.
Clustered workbenches are devoted to the classic fashion disciplinestailoring, draping, knitwear.
Ghesquiere races around with whoops of excitement.
I can tell Im going to discover some stuff I havent seen!
Ghesquiere pauses to admire a beige dress hung carefully under plastic.
he says, rushing over to a piece in progress.
Their hands are magical, he explains.
We assign them to flou and tailleur, but, honestly, they can do anything.
You always face the blank page as a designer, he goes on.
And that createshe grinsserenity.
Somehow hes able to do those things and maintain balance and wearability with the overall design.
SHOW AND TELLLong lines and a sensual cut work together to make sparkled magic.Produced by PRODn.
Its a clue game that the connoisseur might recognize, he says.
The newcomer wont, but they might recognize a style.
Some silhouettes had more potential than hed seen five or seven years ago and were carried forward.
In a way, this is whatmakesa beautiful luxury house, he avers.
It took me a few years and an anniversary show to own it.
But Ive realized that its actually okay to turn in a cycle.
A tight circle of close friends helped, as did his mother.
Shes so strong, so sensitive.
And she has a vision for the future.
I was able to spendnot a lot of time, but a good time, he says.
But I have to be honest.
He furrows his brow.
Its a mistake he doesnt plan to make again.
I knew I was in trouble, Ghesquiere recalls.
I felt so good.
I felthe reflects for a momenthappy.
When Ghesquiere returned home at the end of that trip, he had a sense something had changed.
I knew it was serious, he says.
I came back to Paris and wasnt stressed.
He showed his fall collection; when the show ended, he flew back to LA.
I had work to do there, he said.
But I was also there to see Drew.
That was mid-March 2020.
He stayed in LA for two weeks, fielding calls from home.
Marie-Amelie Sauve and Julien Dossena were like, Theres going to be a lockdown, he recalls.
My mom was like, Come back!
Everyone had a different way of dealing with it.
I was falling in love in LA.
He had holed up in a Chateau Marmont bungalow with Kuhse.
Drew was very cool, but alsoI dont know how to explain it, Ghesquiere says.
Theres an authenticity about his kindness.
Like everyone, I was trying to organize a new life around dealing with domestic things, he says.
Delphine was like, Okay, lets divide the collection into drops, he recalls.
I knew I was in trouble, Ghesquiere recalls of his first date with Kuhse.
I felt so good.
I felthe reflects for a momenthappy
Promoting these mini collections was a new challenge.
I could come back to Drew, he says.
What followed was a two-month California visit that Ghesquiere describes as totally suspended time.
He suggested he and Kuhse rent a house in Malibu.
They settled into a summer on La Costa Beach.
Now, to his surprise, he settled into remote work.
Every morning he Zoomed with Paris.
Boxes of fabric arrived in Malibu, where the local style of imagination influenced his own.
Drew has a very strong Californian culture, and he shows me places Ive never been before.
We could go see graffiti in Calabasas, vintage bookstores that are completely crazy.
In Paris, he never goes to movies, but in California he and Kuhse go all the time.
When Im in LAI wont say Im different, but I can let go.
In Paris, home is an extension of work.
For Kuhse, though, Paris has been a brave new world.
LOOKING THE PARTGhesquieres Louis Vuitton on Sora Choi and Imaan Hammam.
For Ghesquiere, fascination ran the other way.
Almost a year later, the agent called him back: That very house was coming on the market.
The Western exposure also changed his work.
Ghesquiere describes the show as one of his favorites ever.
Like, Hey, Im a fashion designer.
But they said yes!)
His Californian education, too, changed his idea of luxury.
Its not about being casual, he says.
And I love the fusion between South American and Asian influences.
He has always had this way oftwisting, Sauve explains.
This year, he planned it for Barcelona, in the run-up to the Americas Cup sailing race.
Pietro, our CEO, committed to start the Americas Cup in Barcelona, he recalls.
I said, I love Barcelona, and I know exactly where I want to do it.
On the day of the show, police and security officers line the periphery, checking credentials.
A walkway toward a patio where visiting celebrities will take their cocktails is repaved in earth-toned carpet.
The Hypostyle Roomthe site of the runwayhas been set with white benches of Gaudi-esque curves.
THE LIGHT STUFFGhesquieres Louis Vuitton on Adut Akech.
In practice, though, the hats invite disaster.
It is a warm, clear evening, with winds off the sea.
Ghesquiere gives a startThe hat!
The challenge is that every models hair is differentlong, short, curly, fine.
In some cases, they weave the hats into the hair with string.
Others carry an Eiffel Tower of pins.
I told Nicolas, Dont stressremember last year, in Seoul?
That show, on the Jamsugyo Bridge, involved wigs, and took place during freezing, gale-like winds.
There were no wigs on the floor.
you’re able to trust me: Those hats will stay on.
Meanwhile, in one of the parks cavernous arcades, models are being photographed in their looks.
Turn around, if you yo!
Pas de silhouette, enfin!
At 8:45 p.m. the audience is settled, and the show begins.
Sometimes Ill see him start something in one show and continue the idea through another, DuVernay observes.
Then, gradually, a new thread emerges, gently tracing the contours of Ghesquieres West Coast life.
Dresses take on a caftan-like draping.
A hoodie has been reimagined into a Vuitton profile, wide at the shoulders, the hood expanding outward.
Guests in Vuitton finery dance at a smoky red-lit disco in a large bunker below.
They have spent the evening enjoying a long meal on a boat moored in the Mediterranean.
The hats stayed on!
he marvels to a visitor as he settles in.
That was one of those thingsyou prepare everything, but in the end nature takes over.
GRAB AND GOGhesquieres Louis Vuitton on Rachel Brosnahan (with Oscar Isaac).
It was Drews 40th birthday, which is very important to me, he says.
Also, I started some research, he adds shyly.
(Nicolas doesnt look for inspiration, but inspiration somehow always finds him, Kuhse says.)
Its something you see thats totally out of context that makes sense with the story of the house.
Nicolas Ghesquiere, photographed by Justine Triet.
Its not that I wake up every day and say, Give me the pen!
Drews stepdad is in charge of the San Diego Air and Space Museum, Ghesquiere says.
But its a good example of something that will stay in my mind.
