Nicolas Ghesquière turned to the Belle Époque, the culturally rich period spanning the turn of the 20th century up until World War I – as the starting point for the Louis Vuitton Spring 2020 RTW collection.

As a time of great excitement and tremendous change, it also saw the founding of Louis Vuitton, the building of the family’s Art Nouveau home in Asnières, as well as the Maison’s first travels around the world. For his Spring 2020 Collection, the Artistic Director of Women’s Collections circles back to the pleasures of sartorial protocol, a certain kind of dandyism that blends styles and genres.

Harking back to the fundamentals of romanticism and transposing Art Nouveau onto clothing, Ghesquière construes a community that celebrates the enthusiasm of singularity. In this spirit, the collection adopts the evocative cattleya orchid as a sort of signature, worn on the lapel like the fanciful symbol of ultimate refinement. Louis Vuitton picks up the thread of its own history and brings together two nascent centuries, the dream-like dawn of the 20th century and the 21st century that yearns to remember it.

Dominating the space is a digital wall, projecting the artist Sophie’s 2017 music video “It’s Okay To Cry” in a version specially made for the occasion in collaboration with Woodkid. All the wood used for the set comes from sustainably managed pine forests in the Landes region of France (100% PEFC certified) and will be donated for reuse as part of a partnership with ArtStock, whose mission is to recycle and enhance the elements of artistic productions to preserve our environment.