Louis Vuitton Fall 2021-2022 going Ultra Arty or Arty Wild. Review by Eleonora de Gray, Editor-in-Chief of RUNWAY MAGAZINE.

Nicolas Ghesquière, creative director of Louis Vuitton, decided to present new Fall 2021-2022 collection in Louvre in the gallery of Greek and Egyptian ancient art. Great heritage he turned into very modern arty-farty pieces. Bags with faces of Apollo or Venice in ultra green or yellow colors, oversized jackets with Greek frescos and ornaments, embroidered priceless dresses with ornaments from Pharaohs tombs – collection is ultra-young, bringing young generation to understand and appreciate the art, making the ancient art ultra modern.

Nicolas Ghesquière created modern Sphinx’s riddle with the questions addressed to the young generation. So they can find their roots and inspiration in great spirit and art of the past centuries.

Nicolas Ghesquière for this collection went for new collaboration with the Fornasetti atelier. The multifaceted collection showcases Fornasetti’s iconic hand-drawn imagery that has enchanted art and design lovers since Piero founded his atelier in 1940.

The collaboration begins with Nicolas Ghesquière’s pieces which integrates Fornasetti’s distinct visual universe into multiple designs. Unveiled in the spectacular setting of the Michelangelo and Daru Galleries in the Louvre, the collection with its Fornasetti images of antiquity builds a time-travelling aesthetic and creative dialogue with the museum’s remarkable array of Greek, Etruscan and Roman sculpture.

The collaborative designs in the Fall-Winter collection feature specific Fornasetti themes and artworks, selected by Nicolas Ghesquière in dialogue with Barnaba Fornasetti, the Artistic Director of the Fornasetti atelier, and their teams, from the 13,000-piece Fornasetti archive in Milan. These clothes and accessories use a rich combination of colours, textures and traditional, cutting-edge techniques including jacquard, embroidery and laser printing, intertwining Fornasetti’s exquisitely illustrated world with Nicolas Ghesquière’s strikingly contemporary design.

Highlights include velvet dresses, shiny printed jersey tops upon which Fornasetti drawings of ancient statues are overlaid on high-tech thermal-camera imagery, as well as fleece hooded jackets and tailoring pieces. Oversize outerwear pieces feature Fornasetti print both in a stamp inspired coloured version and, in a gold, coated version.

“With this collaboration, I wanted to use the pieces to evoke the continuing modernity of Fornasetti’s artistic world,” says Nicolas Ghesquière. “Fornasetti’s enduring body of work is the realisation of a remarkable hand-drawn technique and magical take on the world, and I am particularly drawn to the way Fornasetti re-explored and reworked the heritage of classicism and ancient Rome, adding new references to historical imagery. As a designer who has always loved fashion’s ability to evoke the past, present and future simultaneously, I wanted to add new layers to this creative palimpsest. Exploring the Fornasetti archives had the excitement of an archaeological dig, searching for and finding drawings from the past to give them a new life for Louis Vuitton – for now and the future.”

“My father was an innovator who believed in the handmade, just like Louis Vuitton,” says Barnaba Fornasetti, son of Piero Fornasetti, and the brand’s artistic director. “Our vision has always been to bring Fornasetti’s unique artistic imagination to people through beautifully crafted objects, and this rewarding collaboration represents a new opportunity to expand and explore its visual creativity.”

See fabulous Louis Vuitton bags and shoes for Fall Winter 2021-2022 season HERE.

See all looks of Louis Vuitton Fall Winter 2021-2022

Photo: Oberrauch – Viero / Gorunway.com