Louis Vuitton AW23 is one for the Francophiles

AS WE GET READY to close out the autumn/winter 2023 fashion month, one thing has been abundantly clear; this season’s lack of abundance.

Immediately post-pandemic, designers were creating clothing that acted as a vessel to take the wearer to another time — one as far removed from the confines of a covid-ridden context as possible, filled with glamorous parties and raucous romps around town. It was, really, a reinvention of the roaring twenties. But now, as the realities of a post-covid world begin to reverberate around the globe, the party is winding down as the sun rises on a new era in fashion.

Instead of leaning into dopamine dressing and clothing posed for a viral moment, it seems as though, this season, designers have taken pause. Notably, at Dior, Gucci and Saint Laurent we saw designers dip back into the archives, inspired by the past to spin a new web of codes that will come to define the new epoch of their respective Houses.

At Louis Vuitton, for AW23 Nicolas Ghesquière joined the club, with a take that widened the scope of retrospection to explore not only the history of Louis Vuitton, but of French fashion as a whole.

The press release opens with what should be simple question: “What is French style?” The fact is, though, the query is anything but easy to answer — but that doesn’t stop Ghesquière from trying.

In an approach notably softer than his signature (I wasn’t going to say it… but if this isn’t proof of a return to “wardrobe dressing“, I don’t know what is), the Creative Director tries to explain the paradox of French style. Presented in the vaulted salons of the Musée d’Orsay, he anchors the collection in the heritage of Louis Vuitton, using the Maison as a vessel through which to take the onlooker on a journey through French fashion history, as “guided by the winds of savoir-faire, technique, discovery and artistic ideals.”

The French woman is famed for her effortless approach to dress. She wears her knitwear just so, scarves slung around her neck and suiting slightly askew — boxy, slouched, padded — but still perfectly tailored. She is a picture of sophistication with a dilettante’s air. This aura was omnipresent on the cobblestone-look runway, with the cinched waists — pulled tight by thin leather belts — and understated embroidery (though nothing about the 18th-century French dress was understated) recalling styles closely associated with the nation’s most renowned eras of its sartorial past. Oh, and who could ignore the Phantom of The Opera-esque sunglasses, reimagined in geometric lines.

There were on-the-nose nods, too, with leather gloves in red, white, and blue and a crossbody case inspired by a Paris street sign, as well as a bag designed to resemble the Maison’s Place Vendôme flagship store.

It is an exploration of and an ode to the evolutive nature of French fashion, which places its own codes in the centre of the narrative without rejecting any external influence. It both embraces and questions the French allure, taking the brand back to basics to uncover and pay homage to the foundations on which it was built: Couture conventions, culture and French exception.

Related: See all the best fashion from the FROW throughout Paris Fashion Week

Discover the full collection below.