Just in time for London Fashion Week SS16 the French luxury giant Louis Vuitton unveiled LV Series 3 - the third exhibition in a series of artistic displays designed to portray the creative inspirations behind Louis Vuitton’s collections. This is a first for the UK, as LV Series 1 was held in Shanghai and Tokyo, while LV Series 2 – in LA, Beijing, Seoul and Rome.
LV Series 3 – Past, Present, Future, invites visitors to discover the inspirations for the Fall 2015 women show of Nicolas Ghesquière, who was appointed as the Creative Director for the house in 2014.
The experiential installation took us through a 13-room journey over three floors, exploring every step in the creative process that has gone towards creating this season's collection – from initial product sketches, through to the experiences of the models on the day of the show. Designed and created in house, Series 3 is set to attract around 100,000 people who will be immersed in the Louis Vitton’s world of craftsmanship and timeless designs.
Undoubtedly a clever marketing tactic that is likely to create commercial desire around the brand and see visitors also flocking to its stores. Digital is a fundamental part of the experience too, with each guide encouraging visitors to take as much pictures as they want and post them on social with the hashtag #LVSeries3. At the time of writing this article there are 15, 367 tagged pictures from the exhibition on Instagram alone. And we can’t judge – the experience is seriously impressive and we highly recommend it for any fashion lover. Some of our highlights include:
GENESIS OF A COLLECTION
A gigantic, geodesic dome, reference to the structure built for the fashion show at the Frank Gehry designed Foundation Louis Vuitton in Paris. In the room, a voice recording plays musings about the genesis of a collection to discover how the Autumn-Winter 2015/2016 has come to be.
MASTER MIND
The centre of this circular room is a Louis Vuitton trunk containing Nicolas Ghesquière’s creative process and inspiration. Over a century after its inception, the trunk still holds some of Louis Vuitton’s most treasured secrets and guards Nicolas Ghesquière’s new ones. It’s an overwhelming experience to say the least, as the room spins while the iconic Louis Vuitton monochrome patterns, models, images and videos are played from the trunk onto the curved walls illustrating the elements that preclude the creation of each collection.
INFINITE SHOW
One of our favourite rooms by far, the infinite show allows guests to relive the excitement that surrounds a show at the Louis Vuitton Foundation, where the AW 15/16 fashion show took place. The show comprised of 48 looks in total and the backstage crew included 30 make-up artists, 25 hairdressers, 45 models and one designer: Nicolas Ghesquière. All 48 looks from the collection are projected in the Infinite Show as video footage onto life-sized screens, making visitors see what it is like to experience the show from the front row.
A TALE OF CRAFTSMANSHIP
An extraordinary part of the exhibition where we could observe how Louis Vuitton artisans were creating the iconic bags in real-time and get a feel of life in the atelier. The atelier-like room gives an insider’s view of the house, revealing the immaculate attention to detail and thought that goes into each piece of the iconic Louis Vuitton handbags. Each of the artisans in the house have to undergo a fascinating 2 to 5 years of training to be able to practice the sacred Savoir-faire.
ACCESSORIES GALLERY
Nicolas Ghesquière famously said that accessories are integral part of each outfit, either clashing it or complementing it. Indeed, they never stand alone, sharing the same sentiment and movements as the garments. The accessories gallery is the most photographed room from the exhibition, displaying Marte Mei van Haaster’s avatar and products from the AW 15/16 collection alongside some of the most iconic accessories from the house. To highlight that handbags, shoes and belts are essential part of the fashion look, the room is blindingly white – walls, floors, even the mannequins embedded onto the walls – with the only colour popping from the accessories on show.
WALK IN WARDROBE
Described as a gateway to a thousand possibilities, the walk-in wardrobe consists of beautifully arranged clothes, accessories and shoes that come alive when taken out of their glass cases. An aspirational and enviable setting not only for its arrangement and featured luxury designs but also for its sheer size.
Towards the end, the exhibition leads to a spacious lounge for discussions and chatter following visitors’ experience of Series 3 where visitors can discuss the breath-taking exhibition overlooking the Thames while sipping champagne or enjoying nibbles from the Louis Vuitton menu. The lounge is also the spot where you can grab yourself free Vuitton stickers bearing bags, shoes and letters with its signature font.
Series 3 is a magnificent celebration of the past and projection of the Louis Vuitton future that made us fall in love with the iconic brand all over again.
