Louis Vuitton: Welcome to the new refinement

Louis Vuitton, the luxury travel marque par excellence, staged the first major influential show of this Paris Fashion Week on Tuesday, wowing with a refined collection presented inside a royal apartment within the Louvre.

And not just any flat — in fact, the grandiose summer apartment of Anne of Austria, a lavishly finished neoclassical space with views out to the Seine.

All magisterially redecorated, as Vuitton’s women’s creative director Nicolas Ghesquière worked with set designer Marie-Anne Derville to create an apartment that riffed on French taste from the 18th century until today — from a salon to a lounge to a bathroom.

“I wanted the serenity that you feel in the comfort of your own home. Today, you can dress with sophistication at home. It’s not just about wearing jogging pants,” explained Ghesquière in a post-show interview.

And like the apartment, this Spring-Summer 2026 collection was highly eclectic: blending kicky fabric tops, tapestry details, carpet-fabric shoes, and brushed silk — an 18th-century French technique where it begins to look like animal skin.

Though Ghesquière didn’t directly reference Anne of Austria’s wardrobe, there was an air of contemporary courtier about the clothes — from leggings cut like britches, or shirts with aristocratic six-inch collars, to striking lace demoiselle gowns and a magnificent scarlet satin bouffant bubble coat.

All manner of off-the-shoulder togas added to the sense of the event, as did damask dhotis. Paired with short paisley tanks, all suggested an exotic dinner party that would be marvelous to attend.

Adding to a sense of mystery, a major shout-out to the millinery — superb Doges’ miters or Pashas’ turbans. Being Ghesquière, the designer leavened many looks with futuristic sportswear: technical palazzo pants or high-tech sneakers.

Nicolas was clearly influenced by the colors of the queen’s apartment. The rose-checked marble floor was restored in the 1970s; below 17th- and 18th-century frescoes and Egyptian bas-reliefs. And even if he claimed not to be influenced by the wardrobe of Anne — the mother of Sun King Louis XIV — there was a hint of Rubens’ famed portrait of Anne in a diaphanous silk gown with a spiky collar.

“It’s a multicultural proposition,” joked the French designer, attired in his classic dressed-down style — worn black jeans and a pale blue jeans jacket.

Though often grand, the collection was never uptight. Far from it — with perfectly draped body-con gowns and superb tailoring made in soft knitwear.

Whatever else one can say about Ghesquière, he certainly has great imagination — and timing. In a season marked by the demise of quiet luxury and the renaissance of refinement, riffing on a queen’s apartment seemed smart.

Original and highly diverse — just like the set, which blended artist Robert Wilson; Georges Jacob, master cabinetmaker of the 18th century; 1930s Art Deco by Michel Dufet; ceramic sculptures by Pierre-Adrien Dalpayrat; and even furniture designed by Derville herself.

Among which sat all the senior brass of LVMH, owner of Vuitton, the world’s largest luxury brand; a pack of influencers; and several proper movie stars — among them Jennifer Connelly and Emma Stone.

And a sense of empowerment. Like Anne. No slouch when it came to politics, Anne outmaneuvered her rivals to become the sole regent of Louis XIV when he became king aged just four. Then she determinedly suppressed the Fronde — the greatest revolt against the French monarchy prior to the Revolution — doing so with the help of Italian-born Cardinal Mazarin. Then again, LVMH’s patron knows a thing or two about hiring Italians. His CEO at Vuitton is Italian-born Pietro Beccari.

All told, even if Vuitton is the luxury brand synonymous with travel, and this was a collection devoted to home, the collection was still very much a fashionable voyage, with flights of fantasy that broke into new stylistic terrain.

The soundtrack gave the whole show a certain grandeur: Cate Blanchett slowly declaiming the words to David Byrne’s song “This Must Be the Place” from the band Talking Heads, though set to music composed by Tanguy Destable.

“Home — it’s where I want to be,” wrote Byrne, which doesn’t seem such a bad idea.