Nicolas Ghesquière Explores The Duality Of New York For Louis Vuitton Cruise 2027

On an unseasonably hot Wednesday afternoon earlier this week, Nicolas Ghesquière returned to New York to present Louis Vuitton’s Cruise 2027 collection. Ghesquière, who held his first Vuitton cruise show for the 2019 season, returned this year with a vision of melding the hyper-specific DNA of two cities—Paris and New York.

This idea of comparing and contrasting to create one was further explored by Ghesquière’s interest in the many differences that exist within the city of New York, from its people and places to the dualities that exist uptown, downtown, and everywhere in between.

The show, presented on the Upper East Side at the Frick Collection, opened with a model carrying an archival suitcase reworked with works by American graphic pop artist Keith Haring. Haring, one of the most iconic pop artists of all time, was known for fusing street culture with graphic art, having emerged in the 1980s from the New York subway scene.

The leather suitcase, which serves as a blank canvas, foreshadows the many references to New York’s pop culture scene throughout. Still, the collection felt inherently Ghesquière, with intricate, borderline costume-y pieces giving way to floral frocks and statement leathers.

As for the bags, the collection reveals a further look at Ghesquière’s next big collab, with icons like the Speedy and Alma reimagined with works from Haring’s archive. Other bags paid homage to New York and the collection’s show space, like an architectural top-handle bag in the shape of a pillar, nodding to the Frick Collection’s beautiful interiors.

Elsewhere, a tricked-out Speedy that felt reminiscent of how NYC college students would decorate a bag with patches and pins gave way to a crystallized takeout container and puffed-up versions of the Petite Malle. Still, more commercial LV Monogram bags were sprinkled throughout, along with a new leather bag fitted with a gold frame.

View more from the runway below.

The Bags of Louis Vuitton Cruise 2027

Images courtesy of Louis Vuitton