Louis Vuitton
PARIS, October 12, 2003
By
When Marc Jacobs is on form at Louis Vuitton, he can make clothes so effortlessly, eclectically right that it leaves the audience tingling. In a season when old-time movie glamour, an adoration for saturated color, lovely textures, and glints of glitter are the materials of a woman's fantasies, Jacobs had the last word on making all of those work every day—and every night, for that matter.The sensation started the minute the auditorium darkened; music pumped and a projection of an LV monogram covered the entire space including the figure of the first advancing model. She was wearing an absinthe draped silk top with a little silk crepe de chine peacock-blue skirt and a pair of suede platforms, carrying one of the neat new LV monogrammed bags (this season, its chunky straps are picked out in juicy colors or gold). Jacobs worked to bring an antique richness to the clothes by using panne velvet, pressed sequins, and gold and silver lamé, but it never became overdone or literally vintage. The sequins could turn up banded onto a wear-in-the-street glazed linen trenchcoat, the gold lamé made into a cute blouse/jacket too great to save for special occasions. With the inclusion of pieces like Clam diggers and sailor pants for practicality, and items like small decorative dresses, tap pants, and a pale Lurex swimsuit for insane temptation, it was a collection that gelled all the elements of the way a young woman wants to look and feel.
That is Jacobs’s knack, although at Vuitton he generously reflects accolades back on his hip behind-the-scenes team. "It's the things we like playing with, our favorite things," he said afterward. "But it's always about our favorite things of the moment." Sometimes the best collections happen when designers don't torture themselves to make a statement. This season, fashion is essentially about nothing more cerebral than finding a way to feel and look happy—and Marc Jacobs nailed it.
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