At a side door of Park Güell, an excited crowd of young people waits to see Zendaya or Pharell Williams, among other celebrities, enter. Further down, at another entrance to the park, neighbors are crying out against the great event. Silence only comes when entering the gardens designed by Antonio Gaudí. A privatized oasis in which to leave the hustle and bustle behind, between glasses of champagne and wild flowers.
Walking through the park’s undulating paths without having to dodge selfie sticks or avoid being in a stranger’s photo when passing by the staircase guarded by the trencadís dragon is pure luxury. It is precisely that mix of culture, exclusivity and high tailoring that gives meaning to the Cruise line that the French label presented yesterday in the Hipóstila room in the Catalan park.
There are few fashion brands capable of closing a cultural space protected by UNESCO such as Park Güell for one day. Finally, Barcelona is the protagonist of a great fashion event and its impact on the city is unquestionable. An opportunity to strengthen the sector that, thanks to these actions, has an interannual growth four times higher than the average between 2022 and 2023.
“Is that Ana de Armas?” a group of attendees could be heard murmuring at the gates of the park. Dressed from head to toe in designs from the brand – the Louis Vuitton client is a fan of the brand’s universe, not just a specific piece – the first guests paraded through the modernist garden until they reached a space set up to celebrate a large cocktail party.
Already in the Hipóstila room, among those who admired the Catalan-style partitioned vaults and those who scrutinized the seats in search of their names, well-known faces such as Marta Ortega, Ana de Armas and Ester Expósito, among many others, made their way. celebrities. A stellar entourage of friends and ambassadors of the brand who joined Bernard Arnault, executive director of LVMH, and Pharrell Williams, singer and designer of the brand’s men’s line, to celebrate the house’s most important annual presentation in style. .
Because a Cruise collection show is, in itself, an immersive experience in which the brand exhibits what it is capable of technically, logistically and of course in terms of luxury clothing. For those who are not familiar with the industry lexicon, Cruise or Resort are lines that are presented in June and July but do not reach stores until November, taking advantage of the Christmas rush. They are designed for off-season vacations of the upper class and despite their exclusivity, they are considered the most profitable of the year. The garments also follow a specific theme and are linked in a certain way to the space in which they are presented.
This modernist enclave served as an excuse for Nicolas Ghesquière, creative director of Louis Vuitton, to profess his love for Barcelona. The choice of location does not respond to a whim of the couturier, although it is here, on the Mediterranean Coast, where he has enjoyed some of the summers of his youth.
The link between the French house and the Catalan city dates back to the beginning of the 20th century, when on one of his trips, Georges Vuitton fell in love with Gaudí’s work. That was the seed of an unbreakable relationship, which led the brand to open its first store in Spain in Barcelona in 1987 and operate to date in Catalonia in six artisan workshops specialized in leather.
Silence once again conquered Park Güell. This time, a row of spotlights heralded the start of the show. Through garments with unexpected volumes, brushstrokes in neutral tones with unexpected sparkles. Ghesquière carried out a sensory journey through the great painters and sculptors of Spanish history.
The works of Joan Miró, Goya and Zurbarán were personified on the catwalk through designs with capes, mantillas transformed into puffy skirts and pants accompanied by Cordoban hats. The great nod to Barcelona and Gaudí came with an asymmetrical dress that evoked the trencadís technique and the dragon that guards Casa Batlló, with a spectacular mosaic in pastel tones. An ode to the magic of Barcelona and its great artistic references, which shows the weight of this industry and its eternal link with art.
