Louis Vuitton presented its Pre-Fall collection in the midst of last week's haute couture shows. No 48-hour tour in Tokyo, no trip to the Austrian Alps à la Dior and Chanel. Nicolas Ghesquière and co. preferred the intimacy of LV's new Right Bank headquarters to show his first Pre-Fall offering for the house. It made sense. With his first three runway shows (two in Paris and one in Monaco), Ghesquière established the new Vuitton silhouette: lean, lanky, and strongly influenced by the 1970s. This season, the intention was to add on to that bold foundation with new materials and treatments, and to an equal degree, to soften some of the key shapes he's introduced so far. Ghesquière talks about wardrobe-building these days—the idea proved extra relevant here.
Spring's narrow, two-button blazer returned in an amusing coq embroidery. The matching pants were high-waisted and cropped, somewhat stiff, like the ones we've seen in his previous collections. Having established denim as a signature, there was more of that, too, alongside cool leather pieces like a snug bomber with a furry spread collar. The news of the lineup was the softness, seen in a fabulous jersey dress color-blocked in graphic shapes lifted from LV's classic monogram, as well as in the oversize blue tweed of a skirtsuit. The skirt was still A-line and it came with strips of leather piping down the front familiar from last season, but it had a relaxed attitude that will make it easier to wear every day. A coat in a brown version of that oversize tweed looked like a hit, and we won't be surprised when we see the corduroy coat that opens this Juergen Teller-lensed lookbook making the rounds at the shows.
