07.10.10

Paris Fashion Week SS11-Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton

It's been four weeks since Marc Jacobs unveiled his own-label collection in New York - a vibrant riot of early-Eighties colour and energy.

An traditionally, he's gone some distance in his efforts to distance his own vision from that of his adopted home at Louis Vuitton: one quirky downtown cool, the other demure sophistication.

But this time round it seemed like the two couldn't be kept apart, and today's show at the Louvre's Cour Carree was an eye-popping, high-gloss spectacular, with the same sultry, nightclub-infused sensuality. But Jacobs' Vuitton spin came refracted through a dense opium cloud of Eastern promise, with tigers lining the runway, a shimmering gold backdrop, and layer upon layer of Oriental detail - cheongsam collars and sequinned obi belts, billowing harem pants and tiers of metallic fringe.

With the Roxy Music-era androgynous styling and powerful graphic lines, tinted tiger-prints and intense colours, this was a voyage into an exotic new place for Louis Vuitton. The question is whether this was a one-off adventure - or the start of a dramatic change of direction for the brand?

Photos by Pascal La Segretain via Getty Images

Posted by John-Michael O Sullivan

Tags: Paris Fashion Week SS11 Louis Vuitton