Louis Vuitton to take the runway in Italy

Italy will be the set of the next Louis Vuitton’s fashion show, as exclusively anticipated to MFF by Lvmh’s own flagship maison led by ceo Pietro Beccari, who recently took the helm. The cruise 2024 collection designed by Nicolas Ghesquière will be presented on Isola bella, part of the Borromean islands of lake Maggiore. The event is set for May 24 and joins an impressive list of unique sites that have so far hosted the brand’s resort collection, from John Lautner’s Bob & Dolores Hope foundation in Palm Springs to Oscar Niemeyer’s Niterói contemporary art museum (Mac), from Ieoh Ming Pei’s Miho museum near Kyoto to Louis Kahn’s Salk institute for biological studies in California.

«Louis Vuitton will be the first to set up a fashion show on the island, which has been owned by the Borromeo family for about 450 years», they proudly explained from the headquarters of the brand led by Bernard Arnault. It took nearly four hundred years and the teamwork of hundreds of skilled architects, engineers, plasterers, painters, and cabinetmakers, who over the centuries in succession gave rise to the extraordinary transformation of Isola Bella from a rock lapped by the lake to a delightful place.

Until 1630, Isola Bella was a rock inhabited by fishermen, with two small churches and a few vegetable gardens. The Borromeo family, who already owned Isola Madre since 1501, focused their interest on the island, initiating the grand project that would lead to the creation of the palace and the garden. This goal was carried forward, expanded, and defined by Vitaliano VI, who is to all intents and purposes considered the founder of Isola Bella. The work that led to the current layout continued uninterrupted throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, until 1948, when Vitaliano IX Borromeo built the new hall, the northern facade, and the large pier.

The cruise 2024 collection will be available in all Louis Vuitton stores worldwide from November 2023. Nicolas Ghesquière, Louis Vuitton’s creative director since 2013, has accustomed his community to exciting and architecturally prestigious locations over the years. The choice of this small island on lake Maggiore is a sign of attention to Italian culture. The Borromean Islands have been candidates to enter the long list of Unesco world heritage sites since 2006, as they have within them a great and inestimable wealth of historical and cultural character, amply testified by the presence of fantastic Baroque palaces and monuments that can still be visited and are open to the public although they are privately owned. The show will be an opportunity to look in a different way at this great Italian beauty. (all rights reserved)