Only a brand like Nicolas Ghesquière’s Louis Vuitton could get the fashion set to hop on a bus and head to JFK airport at rush hour. That’s where we found ourselves for last night’s 2020 cruise presentation. Held at the newly renovated, Eero Saarinen-designed TWA Flight Center—which is soon to reopen as a hotel—this season’s show and collection explored the joy of leaving one location for another, plus the complicated feelings that one can have upon returning home.
“I was lucky enough to have landed at the TWA Flight Center in the late Nineties,” Nicolas Ghesquière said in a statement. “It was something I could never forget. This place was forgotten for twenty years, and now has come back to life. It’s about rediscovering of an uncommon place that yet is a part of American heritage.”
Ghesquière’s designs reflected this sentiment. Expertly tailored pinstripe suits and pants felt very ‘80s and ‘90s on Wall Street. Bat wing tops recalled, well, plane wings. Literal, but who doesn’t like a little on-the-nose glamour? Flats, low-heel Mary Janes, and combat boots make for a more comfortable air travel experience, while stirrup pants completed the at-ease but pulled-together look.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, Ghesquière served up some extra-ness required for New Yorkers who are always on display. Satin Bermuda shorts? Bags with with screens that scroll built in? Chandelier earrings plus ornate sequin boleros to match? All in a day’s look for the city that never sleeps.
In the end, this collection was a celebration of New York’s many sides: glitz, grunge, glamour, and, of course, getting down to business.