A Future Forged by Fluidity
Review of Louis Vuitton Spring 2027 Fashion Show
By Angela Baidoo
THE IMPRESSION TAKE
Nicolas Ghesquière’s Spring 2027 collection for Louis Vuitton, titled Ergonomie, imagined an optimistic future through clothes engineered around movement, marking a welcome shift toward a lighter, more fluid design language. Slinky jersey, technical nylon and second-skin dresses followed the body rather than restricting it, though less coherent Art Deco motifs and embellishments occasionally interrupted an otherwise convincing evolution away from the heavier structures of recent seasons.
Creative Director: Nicolas Ghesquière
House: Louis Vuitton
Collection: Spring/Summer 2027
Presented: Paris Fashion Week
Reviewed by: Angela Baidoo
The Impression Review Score by Kenneth Richard:
View the Full Collection
There was a time when the idea of a flying car represented one of the many ideas the future promised: teleportation to make travel instantaneous, robots to carry out our domestic tasks, and video calling to help us stay connected wherever we were in the world.
In that same vein, for Spring 2027, Nicolas Ghesquière chose to present an optimistic way of imagining what could come next, with the suspension of hover cars above the historic Cour Carrée du Louvre for a collection titled ‘Ergonomie.’ This futuristic skyline represented dynamic movement and forward momentum, in contrast to the current climate that itself feels suspended. And in applying a noticeably lighter hand to his clothes the collection was also engineered to encourage movement by following the contours of body rather than restricting it through the rigidity of the past.
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
The courtyard of the Cour Carrée du Louvre became the setting for ‘an imagined future’ backdropped by classical architecture. Not the first place you might think to visit to go back to the future, but a few steps away the Pyramid du Louvre proves that the past and future can comfortably co-exist.
The words ‘A future in suspension’ accompanied the show teaser and carried a double meaning. The future itself is in doubt as the progress that was being made globally with climate change targets, social mobility, and LGBTQIA+ rights are now in a permanent state of suspension. On hold or rolled back today’s concept of an ‘imagined future’ encourages all to rethink what could be rebuilt and rise – like the hover cars floating around the showspace – above this moment.
The ‘Art of Travel,’ a Louis Vuitton founding principle was put into practice for spring 2027. How the body influences how clothing moves inspired a much lighter and less rigid collection. Likely to be met with positive appreciation, as the last few seasons have focussed on heavier layering and structured fabrics. From the first look freedom of movement was the message that guests were clear Ghesquière wanted to convey.
Moulded to the models contours, a lighter hand ensured that this collection was “constructed in fluidity.” Knitted jersey was slinky and technical nylons were ruffled giving off an air of romance that felt right for the house to lean into. This ease extended to looks that were the most obviously future-facing, yet they were also infused with a wearability. So, simple shift dresses were embellished with iridescent Perspex diamonds and collarless boxy jackets were almost lab-like in their minimalism.
That desire for clothes that are more streamlined than they have been in the past seeped through in Ghesquière’s recent resort collection. Held in New York and inspired by the scrappy downtown energy of 1980s New York and graffiti artist Keith Haring; slim denim jeans, leather pants, multi-coloured tweed jackets, and chunky cardigans could be extracted for daily use. Whereas here the second-skin dresses gave off a clinical simplicity and “impossible lightness”, tracing the body and engineering them “for action” according to the show notes.
There were moments that were less clear in their inclusion when referencing the over-arching theme, such as the art deco patterns and embellished stick-on fringes. But just as the concept of the hover car has been floating around since the early 1900s – used today as props – the designer developed a static representative of a future on pause, then through the dynamic fluidity and accelerated motion of this collection he invited us to imagine a future where travel is not limited by time or space.
THE WRAP UP
The future Ghesquière imagines for next spring is one that believes in the possibility of flying cars becoming a part of the “Art of Travel.” And encouragingly, that optimism translated directly into the clothes. After seasons where structure, volume and layering have weighed down themes, this lighter handwriting allowed the body – and how it wants to move freely in clothes – to dictate his designs.
‘Ergonomie’ pointed towards a welcome evolution for the designer, one where the fascination with the future no longer requires such heavy armour to face it, but clothes designed to move freely towards it.
