While the film world was gathering in Cannes, another type of crowd got together in another beautiful French village: Avignon. That’s because Louis Vuitton staged their latest Cruise 2026 collection there, more specifically, in the Palais de Papes, where the renowned theatre festival takes place each year. That set and event were some of the main inspirations behind Nicholas Ghesquière’s collection, which explores “the performative aspect of clothing, its inherent artistic value, its narrative force, and the emotional power it unleashes.”
“Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask and he’ll tell you the truth,” Oscar Wilde famously wrote. This idea of becoming a truer version of yourself when you can hide behind a mask is one of the starting points of Louis Vuitton’s Cruise collection. Thanks to clothes we can hide what we dislike, enhance what we like, and even transform ourselves into new versions, be it by projecting something that we aren’t or by exaggerating what we truly are. The power of clothes, we can feel it every day: if you feel down, you can be complicit with your own sadness and dress without putting in any effort; or, on the other hand, you can try to uplift yourself by wearing that incredible look you know always suits you. This is what Ghesquière comments with his new collection: “Whether for everyday or exceptional occasions, clothing has the power – as we all know from experience – to transform mood, appearance, and character: to play an essential supporting role.”
Inspired by the Cour d’Honneur of the Palais des Papes, the Maison’s new collection features incredibly rich textures of jacquards and metallic embroideries, a testament to their ateliers’ savoir faire. Inspired by the medieval building, as well as broader influences like Gothic and Byzantine styles, the garments have a regal, even aristocratic flair: big volumes and exaggerated silhouettes, puff sleeves, and major collars and elegant turtle necks. Free-flowing lines in dresses, skirts, and blouses meet more rigid, fitted silhouettes in leather jackets and mini dresses. Opposites like past and present, history and contemporaneity, meet to create a new language bridging seemingly contrary ideas.
Another highlight is the luxurious fabrics and materials: the shiny leathers in two-piece looks, jackets, long coats, and dresses (as well as, of course, handbags and shoes), the layered and textured knits (coming in beautiful colour combinations like baby blue, brown, yellow, magenta), the soft silk in blouses and mini skirts, and the paillettes and metallic fabrics creating intricate prints in gold, silver, blue, green, hot pink, or orange.
With this collection, inspired by drama, performativity, and the emotional power of clothes, Ghesquière continues to build on his legacy for the French Maison, delivering clothes that are not just made to look good, but to awaken the senses.
