Fashion as Entertainment
It’s June 21st. As I write this post, two completely divergent happenings have just hit the fashion world that, in a nutshell, explain the challenges facing this industry: First, French luxury house Louis Vuitton held a blockbuster show the other night that was more about performance than fashion, while British designer and creative dynamo Christopher Kane announced this morning that he is closing his namesake line.
Let’s start with Louis Vuitton, where music icon Pharrell Williams delivered his first Spring 2024 menswear collection with the kind of showmanship usually reserved for The Grammys. The clothes were a secondary consideration, as this show was all about the extraordinary production, from the Paris-at-dusk setting and Damier-pattern runway stretched across the entire Pont Neuf to the A-list celebrities and even a live orchestra and choir. In fact, by the end of the show, audiences streaming it from around the world weren’t even seeing the clothes, because the multitude of cameras kept panning from the choir belting out “Joy” to Beyoncé. This was fashion as spectacle.
The collection Mr. Williams showed seemed to point to Vuitton following the item-driven formula that has seen much success over at Dior. The lineup was a mix-and-match roundup of on-trend styles featuring some version of either the Damier pattern or LV logo. That’s not to say the clothing was bad, but as another observer mused, almost everything in the show had already been done by Jonathan Anderson at Loewe. It made for a collection that felt a bit like a checklist: Damouflage pixelated print suiting, maxi coats, and short suits; Damier-printed suiting, outerwear and sweat suits; logo varsity jackets; and double-breasted, peak lapel tuxedo jackets. Of course, there was no shortage of bags with carryalls, backpacks and crossbodies featured prominently in nearly every look, and sometimes more than one. Even Vuitton’s luggage made an appearance, driven down the quay in golf carts.
As much as the logo-filled collection felt like overkill, the show was also striking for precisely what was omitted – and that was a fresh perspective on fashion. As Cathy Horyn pointed out, “Williams did not seize the opportunity to propose any new shapes, or ways of addressing the body, or thinking about luxury — in short, anything that might challenge assumptions.” While Mr. Williams is a keen observer of culture and audience, he knows that for a luxury house as big as Louis Vuitton cultural currency lies in its brand logo and that was his focal point for the entire collection.
The approachable clothing and accessories shown on the LV runway means that clients will not be going to Vuitton for groundbreaking design. Those kinds of fashion-forward ideas have been left to independent brands like Christopher Kane. Mr. Kane, who founded his label in 2006 and is known for his cerebral and sometimes joyfully perverse designs, has been self-financing his brand with his sister Tammy since buying back 51% of it from Kering in 2018. However, the economic uncertainties of the Covid-19 lockdowns proved difficult for the brand, and Brexit and the UK’s cost of living crisis certainly have not helped in its recovery.
Which leaves us all with something to mull over: Christopher Kane was a label that had a runway show every season, an international editorial presence, and an A-lister fan base – all the elements most brands yearn for - and still could not overcome the financial difficulties inherent in the fashion industry. One could argue it’s because big brands – like Louis Vuitton – occupy so much social, digital, and print media space that generating the kind of visibility that can turn into tangible sales and profit is difficult even for a brand like Christopher Kane.
So, is Bernard Arnault a cynic giving people what they want or just a business pragmatist? It’s hard to say, but serving the public design that offers nothing new ultimately leads to an industry that is less vibrant and engaging. Only time will tell how Mr. Williams evolves as a creative director, but the encouraging sign is that he says he’s “a student” - and students are always learning. And that’s important because if you are not curious, engaged in learning new techniques, informed about industry business, and absorbing information and inspiration, then you will not survive this industry. I hope Mr. Williams will explore fresh design ideas in his upcoming collections and bring fashion with a capital “F” back to the house of Louis Vuitton.
Images by Thitidapha Thabthim/Shutterstock.com and Keitma/Shutterstock.com
