At a side door of Park Güell, a crowd of young people waits to see Zendaya or Pharrell Williams, among other celebrities, enter. Further down, at another of the entrances to the park, residents are clamoring against the big event. Silence only comes when you enter the gardens designed by Antoni Gaudí. A privatized oasis where you can leave the hustle and bustle behind, among glasses of champagne and wild flowers. Strolling along the undulating paths of the park without the need to dodge selfie sticks or avoid being photographed by a stranger when you pass by the staircase guarded by the trencadís dragon is luxury in its purest essence. It is that mix of culture, exclusivity and haute couture that gives meaning to the cruise line that the French label presented yesterday in the hypostyle hall of the Catalan park. There are few fashion firms able to close for a day a cultural space protected by Unesco like Park Güell. Finally, Barcelona is the protagonist of a major fashion event and its impact on the city is unquestionable. An opportunity to strengthen the sector which, thanks to these actions, has an interannual growth four times above the average between 2022 and 2023.
“Is this Ana de Armas?”, could be heard murmuring in a small group of attendees at the gates of the park. Dressed from head to toe in the brand’s designs – the Louis Vuitton customer is a fan of the universe of the firm, not just of a specific piece –, the first guests paraded through the modernist garden until they reached a space enabled by have a great cocktail party. Already in the hypostyle hall, among those who admired the vaults covered in the Catalan style and those who examined the seats in search of their name, faces like those of Marta Ortega, Ana de Armas, Ester Expósito and Victoria Federica, among many other celebrities. A star-studded entourage of friends and ambassadors of the firm joined Bernard Arnault, chief executive of LVMH, and Pharrell Williams, singer and designer of the firm’s men’s line, to celebrate the most important annual presentation of the home Because a cruise collection show is, in itself, an immersive experience in which the firm exhibits what it is capable of technically, logistically and of course in terms of luxury clothing. For those unfamiliar with the lexicon of the industry, cruise or resort lines are lines that are introduced in June and July, but don’t hit stores until November, taking advantage of the Christmas rush. They are designed for the off-season holidays of the upper class and despite their exclusivity are considered the most profitable of the year. The pieces also follow a specific theme and are linked in a certain way to the space where they are presented. This modernist place served as an excuse for Nicolas Ghesquière, creative director of Louis Vuitton, to profess his love for Barcelona. The choice of location is not a whim of the couturier, despite the fact that it is here, on the Mediterranean coast, where he enjoyed some of his youthful summers. The French house’s link with the Catalan city dates back to the beginning of the 20th century, when Georges Vuitton fell in love with Gaudí’s work on one of his trips. This was the seed of an indestructible relationship, which led the brand to open its first store in Spain in Barcelona in 1987 and to work in six artisan workshops specializing in leather in Catalonia.
Silence once again conquered Park Güell. This time a row of spotlights heralded the start of the show. With pieces with unexpected volumes, brushed in neutral tones with unexpected touches. 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 layered designs, mantellines transformed into skirts and flared trousers accompanied by Cordovan hats. The great gesture of complicity with Barcelona and Gaudí arrived with an asymmetrical dress that evoked the trencadís technique and the dragon guarding 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.
