Louis Vuitton earlier this month revealed that it would hold its cruise 2027 show at The Frick Collection in New York City. It had been a long time coming for Nicolas Ghesquière, the brand’s artistic director of women’s collections.
“It was on my dream list,” told WWD of the Upper East Side museum.
The traveling show marks the first time the Frick‘s first-floor galleries will be activated for a fashion show, and kicks off a three-year sponsorship. Starting in June, Louis Vuitton will underwrite the museum’s free evenings on the first Friday of each month through May 2027.
Through the sponsorship, the French luxury house will also serve as lead sponsor of its next three major special exhibitions, the first being October’s opening of “Siena, the Art of Bronze: 1450 to 1500.” Furthermore, a Louis Vuitton curatorial research associate will support the museum’s curatorial department’s activities for two years.
“I can’t remember really when I first went to the museum because it’s such an institution for New York, but I have a vivid memory of being very amazed by the beauty of the collection, and of course the [architecture],” Ghesquière said. “A residence turned into a museum is always so special. This dream list had a lot of locations, and I’ve been lucky enough to do a lot since — I’ve crossed a lot of those boxes since I started at Vuitton.”
Over the years the artistic director’s Vuitton cruise shows have taken place at marvelous global locations of architectural significance, including the Palais des Papes, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Avignon, France; Barcelona’s Park Güell; Isola Bella, the small Italian island on Lake Maggiore; the Bob Hope estate by John Lautner in Palm Springs, Calif.; Brazil’s Museum of Contemporary Art Niterói by Oscar Niemeyer; Kyoto’s Miho Museum by Ieoh Ming Pei; the Fondation Maeght in Saint-Paul de Vence by Josep Lluís Sert, and the TWA Flight Center at JFK Airport in New York by Eero Saarinen.
“At Vuitton, there is a reason that makes cruise very visible. It’s a baby — we started it 13 years ago when I first joined. It was one of the projects that didn’t exist before, so for me, it was also important that Vuitton had a signature,” the artistic director said of his appointment 13 years ago, and the first cruise show (his second show collection) for the house, held in Monaco in 2014. Of course, other luxury houses were holding traveling cruise shows, but Ghesquière said highlighting architecture and new designs through these shows was seemingly missing.
It might be hard to remember, given the massive reach and legitimacy of Louis Vuitton — certainly for travel-minded cruise shows — that the French luxury house’s ready-to-wear business is merely a “young lady” in her 20s.
“We always think about, “She’s 28,” Ghesquière quipped of the brand’s fashion launch, which started from scratch under Marc Jacobs in 1997, and is now being written as a beautiful “second chapter” under Ghesquière. It’s a massive feat, and the length of the designer’s tenure at the brand is becoming increasingly rare in the fashion industry.
Since then, Vuitton has continued to expand its world with beauty, hospitality and so forth, and Ghesquière said he is very grateful for his long relationship with the house and the Vuitton woman.
“It’s beautiful also to see different generations working together. At Vuitton, there’s people with me that are from Balenciaga. In the atelier, and not only in the studio, there were people who were with Marc [Jacobs], and they are all happy together, and then there’s new people. It’s really a special place. It’s not a legend,” he said. “There is really something, even if it’s huge — sometimes it’s difficult to define, but it’s very human.”
During the interview, Ghesquière explained that his annual cruise collection serves as new ways to show even more craftsmanship and savoir faire, and “they are very fun, because they tell a story,” he said. “In Paris [during his fashion week shows], of course we tell a lot of stories and more than everything, the story of fashion. The cruise collection’s art says something that is about fashion, but it’s much larger.”
His collections’ stories often start with the venue, before his drawing and development of new techniques come into play.
“It totally infuses a part of the process, because cruise is based on the idea of travel, and the travel is moving, so the travel is Louis Vuitton,” he said, explaining that to design the collection, securing a location and approaching the setting, “like a movie scene,” comes first.
“I really think about the models and the talent that walk the show like characters of a short film…We travel with scouts, we sometimes have a few places, but this one was one,” he said.
After a November trip to visit the Frick’s newly renovated galleries, he was inspired by the feeling of the venue being, “Almost like a secret place. It’s not, but it’s a place where when you discover it, you really have the feeling of finding something really unique and private somehow. Even if it’s public, it feels private and that’s very special.”
Ghesquière explained that his spring 2026 show at a space built into one of the Louvre’s courtyards, which displayed an atmosphere of craft, confronted with the collection, into “art that is so beautiful and something you cannot question,” helped him and his team work in a direction that would not be “too intimidated” for cruise 2027.
“When we came out of the [Frick] museum, we had the same thought, and we said, ‘Why don’t we do cruise here? It’s extraordinary, and we have something to say about it.’ There is really something very interesting also in terms of timing with the Gilded Age; with the development of transportation here, and the Frick collection is also a symbol of that. There’s a synchronicity with LV, which is very interesting,” he said. “There is something to say about it, and it’s what the cruise is about. Also, it’s always collections that are very… I would say more narrative than the one we show in Paris. There is a story to tell.”
With every destination show, Ghesquière said his story always pays homage to the places to which Vuitton travels. Here, not only did the Frick’s architecture and historical portrait artworks play into his designs, but the wider landscape of New York City and the “idea that America is a sophisticated casual,” he explained. Ghesquière said after spending time in America, more often in his Los Angeles home, he’s come to understand and love the “subtleness of this style,” which spans across the country.
“It’s really interesting to pay homage, to infuse the culture of the place we are visiting with a collection, and of course to bring our eyes as foreigners. I think it’s what is beautiful in showing this idea of cruise,” he said. While his 2017 New York cruise show was distinctly outside of the city, Wednesday’s outing is firmly in town and, “all about a New York moment.”
He also enjoyed the contrast of the former TWA location’s modern architecture to the Frick’s historical, classical design, which brought forth new design evolution and developments.
“There are so many sides of New York that we can share. What was very interesting with the collection was also to think about the duality. It’s very universal between uptown and downtown — you’ve been hearing that for a long time, but it is very mysterious for the entire world. Where is the line? What is the difference? Where does it cross and complete itself? The contrasts are amazing,” he said, recalling his first early ’90s trip to the Big Apple at age 18. Crossing the bustling streets in Midtown; discovering the “still rough” streets of SoHo, “and of course the galleries,” he said. “Old galleries, new galleries and cool places, like Chelsea and Meatpacking.
“I was staying in Lafayette Street, and then we came uptown, and I discovered this extraordinary environment, which was so beautiful with the buildings. It was everything I saw in the movies. I still feel those emotions, because I still think it hits everyone when you come to New York,” he said. “So this time, this is what I wanted to express with our vision. To say, ‘The girl downtown is coming uptown; the girl from uptown catches things from the girl downtown, and what is that mix through our eyes. That’s really what the collection is about.”
He continued that, as with all of his collections, “there is a time clash in what I do.”
“There is clearly this idea of a very artistic character in the show and [we] express a few great examples of America. One of the great examples of America, for me, was Keith Haring,” he said. The artistic director said he was inspired by the late American artist and activist’s bold, graphic and widely recognized works, but also the meanings behind them.
“I thought it was very interesting to infuse his work in the world of Louis Vuitton, and also in the world of the Frick, which is very classical art,” he said, furthering his message — and Vuitton’s New York customer — of uniting and adapting downtown’s street edge with the quintessential uptown ethos. In addition, Haring’s works speak to a wider message Ghesquière enjoyed — yes, his works with the artist’s foundation will be at a high level of craft and available in special, expensive Vuitton pieces, but the artist’s work can also often be seen on a T-shirt down the street. “It’s universal,” he said. “It’s something you can have in common, and that this is beauty.”
As if fated, Ghesquière pointed out his cruise collection’s opening look: a denim-clad model carrying a vintage patina’d brown suitcase featuring a signature black marker drawing by the late artist. He explained that two or three years ago, the Vuitton team had purchased the ’30s suitcase, which was sold at auction by the former roommate of Haring’s.
“It was a full loop. It was crazy, really, and incredible, with the possibilities of Vuitton — it’s so large and historic. It’s an incredible treasure. That was also a good starting point, because he designed on the luggage,” he said. “The LV team identified the year, it was 1984, and luggage was probably from the ’30s.”
All of these inspirations, with nods to Western wear, fused together to create Ghesquière’s strong, cinematic view of the American woman, who is but one of the many global women who inspire and fuel his deep love for design.
“After all these years [in the business] — it’s going to be 30 years in 2027 — it’s not a search for perfection, but you always look for the next collection, strangely, or the next creation,” he explained. “That’s something that is very artistic that I wanted to express since I was a kid. I did menswear in the past, but I’m designing for women. It’s the sharing with women, and not only women now, the people that we are connecting with. Honestly, that’s what I love about it.”
He added that what he continually finds fascinating is searching for “something that will create emotion in the moment; that’s fashion, that you wish for in temporality, for something that we love.”
It’s about creating styles that will one day become signatures, proven through his 17-year tenure helming, rebuilding and reinventing Balenciaga and his ongoing 13-year work with Vuitton. Each collection serves as an important moment to “little by little” develop new signatures and codes. Ghesquière explained that establishing these styles is not necessarily a conscious effort, but because he craves to do so.
“You wish that it’s going to be something that will be a signature style one day. So this is what I love, in that. This sharing the collection; having this extraordinary energy around, and this reset every three months. And at the same time, this very deep, deep, deep work, and this very profound research, that is not only a silhouette, but what I’m adding to that person when she wears my clothes,” he said.
The questions of how she feels in the clothes; if she wants to keep, sell or pass down the fashions to her daughter one day, are questions that still fascinate the artistic director. “That’s why I’m always looking forward to expressing something.”
When asked if after 30 years in the business, it ever gets easier, Ghesquière said, “With time, it’s a very interesting development because fashion has changed so much since all those years, so the adaptation is always very interesting. Fashion was not that popular when I started, and now it’s pop culture too.”
While Ghesquière never envisioned fashion becoming so popular when he first started, he finds it, and Louis Vuitton’s, concrete stance in the broader culture fascinating.
“The beauty of my previous responsibility at Balenciaga was that it was kind of a secret jewel that needed to be revealed again, and it was extraordinary to work like that for 16 years — to contribute to put it back on the map, and make it alive,” he continued. “But after that, of course being at Vuitton was extraordinary, because you could talk to many more people, address your ideas to many more people, share things with many more people. The big change is that for me personally, of course, and of course for the industry, this popularity is extremely interesting.”
This plays into his well-organized, disciplined approach to the craft. This means balancing themes of multiple, sometimes overlapping collections, and working closely with his innovative teams to transform and find solutions to new ideas.
Being an artist is a “big part of creation in what we do, and a big part of pragmatism,” he said. “You have to be organized for it to sell. You have to be artistic when you do your creation, then pragmatic when you start to build the clothes. And it’s very technical.”
It’s not only about storytelling, building brand narratives and signature, but creating investment-worthy products that create desire and make customers dream.
“Fashion is important, but what is more important is that it’s going to matter enough. Being older gave me this outlook, because some of what I did in the past, I saw the life and the second life, the third life of those clothes, and how much the commodity cost at the time,” he said. “ I think it’s very beautiful to see that they take value, they are appreciated by a new generation, by people that were not there at that time, and they’re like, ‘I see that there is something there that someone and a group of people cares about. They cared about that when they did it.’”
