Age Of Elegance

At Louis Vuitton This Season, Nicholas Ghesquière Eschewed Spectacle for Sophistication, and Imbued Fantasy With Functionality. Rochelle Pinto Had to Keep From Touching Everything

If you’re searching for a starting point from which to approach Nicholas Ghesquière’s latest effort at Louis Vuitton, think orange. Orange patent leather boots slinking sexily just above the knee, meant to flash just a hint of skin below the hemline of those ’60s-inspired sheath dresses. Orange patent leather boots that illustrate, in one bright flash, why impractical and irresistible can make for a winning commercial combination.

As we drive to the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, where the Louis Vuitton Pre-Fall 2017 collection awaits us inside a spartan building curiously named The Metal Bees, those orange boots are already atop everybody’s lust list. But there’s plenty more in Ghesquière’s bottomless bag of tricks.