The house also teamed up with ten Chinese celebrities (eight women and two men) to post online invitations to its livestream. First, the brand teased the event with a 40-second video featuring an orchestra playing in various locations around Shanghai city, from subway tunnels to the Bund. Powered by the house’s local teams, these initiatives align with how Burke sees fashion shows being communicated to global audiences in the future, specifically “taking events to people instead of flying people to events.”īut Vuitton did not build this impressive Shanghai spectacle overnight. In addition to the selected location, the house professed its dedication to Chinese audiences by designing 19 exclusive looks (and three handbags) for the show. This complex and modern history set the tone for a China-based reinterpretation of the collection. Staged next to the Huangpu River, a symbol of Shanghai’s complicated history as a crucial trade port, the show emanated Louis Vuitton’s rich brand DNA, which has always been rooted in travel culture as seen through a local lens. A spin-off reinforces and builds on the previous show.” As Vuitton chairman and CEO Michael Burke explained in an exclusive interview with WWD: “Each show has an intimate relationship with its predecessor and announces its successor. Instead of repeating or replicating shows in a key market, Vuitton personalized this Shanghai spin-off runway for China through some local twists. Ghesquière’s creative vision was restaged in Shanghai with the brand’s local team As such, Jing Daily took a look at how Louis Vuitton is redefining the spin-off show and how this recent initiative will surely fuel the house’s China business for years to come. Hosting physical runways and gatherings in China has been common in the post-pandemic era, so the benchmark for bringing newness to Chinese runways has become increasingly challenging. Stepping into the spectacular ballroom, attendants were surrounded by antique chairs and hundreds of chandeliers. And with Chinese supermodel Xiaowen Ju closing the show, audiences loudly applauded the breathtaking fantasy Ghesquière and the Maison had co-created. Conversations about the backdrop and sets soon popped up in person and across social media on various platforms. And even with the house celebrating the 200th birthday of its founder, it was Ghesquière’s first presentation in China that received the most significant attention.Īfter stepping into the spectacular ballroom, guests were greeted by a dazzling feast. The presentation marked Louis Vuitton’s second show in Shanghai since the pandemic began (last year’s Spring 2021 Menswear show was the first).
On November 17, the Shipyard Repair Docks on the Huangpu River was decked out with dozens of antique chandeliers, echoing the collection’s premiere at the Louvre’s Passage Richelieu. Nicolas Ghesquière’s voice wafted across the Louis Vuitton Womenswear Spring/Summer show in Shanghai, directing audiences across a sumptuously decorated ballroom.