“More than an inspiration, it’s a question, the very significant one of gender. We’re going beyond the basic idea that a woman gains power by co-opting the masculine wardrobe. What space is there for a category of clothing between the feminine and masculine? It’s a growing space and its contours are ever more permissible. We’re defining a type of clothing that lives in a non-binary zone. It’s fascinating to consider. What is a non-binary garment?” Nicolas Ghesquière said in a post-show statement after his Spring live Louis Vuitton show at the newly renovated Samaritaine department store, on the top floor of this historical Art Nouveau building facing the river Seine. 

Navigating between the masculine and feminine has been the current currency in fashion’s obsessions with gender fluidity, with so many designers attempting to erase this boundary by making the same clothes for both sexes or adapting one’s sex traditional clothes for another, and so forth. The French designer Jean Paul Gaultier has been working on this paradox of gendered clothing more or less his entire career trying to find commonalities on one hand and erase differences on another hand. His defining Spring 1985 show titled ‘Un garderobe pour deux’ in October 1984 was the first runway show in Paris to propose one set of clothing for both sexes in which males and females wore the same clothes and some hybrids like a skirt-pant combination. 

This season both Thom Browne and John Galliano at Maison Margiela proposed co-ed collections and by co-ed, these designers meant clothes made in the same way for both sexes, not garments made for one or the other that could be worn by both. It is also treacherous territory for fashion that’s easily mined but difficult to execute in a flawless way. Ghesquière showed segments of Wim Wender’s film Wings of Desire, the romantic 1987 movie about immortal angels in Berlin. 

What Ghesquière referred to as co-opting masculine wardrobe for power was perhaps a reference to the designer Yves Saint Laurent’s penchant for taking exclusive men’s wardrobe such as the tuxedo and turning this garment of power into Le smoking in 1966, giving his women an equal status sartorially at a time when such notion of equality of any kind was at best far distant. This Yves Saint Laurent pantsuit for women shattered the image of one particular type of gender garment and did so mainly on the point of the perception and of how people in society viewed clothing.  

Here Ghesquière was not talking about an interchangeable set of garments that men and women can all wear, rather he was asking whether from a design perspective was there a middle ground somewhere or ‘in-between’ as he referred. Clearly, for the seasoned designer, this remained a grey area in the fashion pantheon that he was attempting to address in this spring show where the clothes veered towards the feel and look of 1980’s slouchy and oversized shapes with a strong influence of the late 1990’s streetwear vibes that reminisced the kids in the photographs from documentary photographer Jamel Shabazz. 

The show opened with an ecru thermal long sleeve with the word VOTE printed in yellow paired with multi pleated khaki loose pants and a large leather brown belt, perhaps as a nod to the young people in America and the upcoming election, now less than a month away. From there the show progressed to the oversize trench, coats, a grey sequined cropped jacket suit, and various loose blouson paired with long skirts or loose pleated pants.

“If you take a powerful term like ‘gender-fluid’ and apply it to fashion, it’s really the idea of fluidity in a garment that moves harmoniously from one to the other, and which is one and the other,” Ghesquière said as a way to clarify that fluidity meant clothes that can be both at the same time. However, at times it is difficult to understand what the designer meant as an in-between space between masculinity/femininity boundaries – this notion of hybrid garments or even transitory garments was not entirely clear as expressed in the clothes such as a grey silk satin splash painted single-breasted pleated pantsuit and leather dress shoes that conveyed a clear masculine rather than some level of cross over or in the middle. 

He mentioned the series of loud printed oversized dresses shown towards the end, that can be either dresses or XXXL tee-shirts that skaters wore over their shorts, or as many young urban women wore sports team jerseys as short cocktail dresses. Some of these print dresses or those cropped large short-sleeve printed tee shirts, a look similar to those football players who wore half jerseys at practice, recalled those mixes of impact prints from the Japanese designer Kansai Yamamoto in the 1980s. 

The show opened with an ecru thermal long sleeve with the word VOTE printed in yellow paired with multi pleated khaki loose pants and a large leather brown belt, perhaps as a nod to the young people in America and the upcoming election, now less than a month away.

LOUIS VUITTON SPRING 2021 READY-TO-WEAR DETAILS

Leave it to Nicolas Ghesquière and Louis Vuitton to deliver the virtual reality experience we’ve been waiting for all season long. When the gravity of the pandemic started to sink in earlier this year, the industry scrambled to come up with digital solutions for audience members prohibited from traveling. This month we’ve watched countless taped videos and livestreams, but none of them featured the kind of interactivity that even a Zoom call brings.

Today’s LV show, the last on the official calendar, upped the stakes. Interspersed among the live audience in the freshly remodeled-by-LVMH La Samaritaine department store were 360-degree cameras that allowed viewers at home to swivel in their chairs, watch models coming and going, and see who did and didn’t score a better seat. It was almost like being there.

“This season is very new in every way,” Ghesquière said days before the show. “The conditions that we’re facing are making us think differently. We came up with the idea of different degrees of presence.” In addition to the 360-degree cameras, green screens lined the walls and, in some places, the floors of La Samaritaine. Viewers of the livestream—the third way to watch and hear the show (there were live mics)—saw footage from Wim Wenders’s famous film Wings of Desire.

Beyond the ’80s-ish silhouettes that have long been a touchpoint for the designer, the connection between the Wenders movie and Ghesquière’s collection, was angels, which have two wings, but no gender. “My question this season was less about one theme; it was about this zone between femininity and masculinity,” he explained. “This zone is highlighted by non-binary people, people that are taking a lot of freedom dressing themselves as they want, and, in turn, giving a lot of freedom to all of us. I found it inspiring to explore what the items are that represent this wardrobe that is not feminine, not masculine. I wanted to zoom in on that section in between.”

The show began with a look that combined a timely Vote tee (his absent American friends appreciated that) and baggy pleated chino pants cinched with a thick belt. It was emblematic of a collection that felt more spontaneous and street-ready than some of Ghesquière’s more recherché outings at LV. The duster coat, minidress, and trainer combo looked cool and true-to-life. Ditto the lapel-less suits in khaki or silver sequins, which were also worn with sneakers.

That’s not to say some of these clothes weren’t worked. The straight-up skater tees that he opened with were spliced and diced into elaborate techno patchworks by the end. Less obvious on camera were the expandable jackets, built with panels that can be worn in a fitted way for a feminine silhouette, or loosened for a more generous cut. Pants, too, were designed with excess fabric to shape-shift.

Amidst the lockdowns, many wondered how the world-changing pandemic would affect not just the shows, but also clothes themselves. The short-term answer from this first ready-to-wear season back after quarantine is... not much. But the industry’s most forward thinkers—Ghesquière included—are rallying around the concept of genderless clothes. “I don’t know how the situation will change fashion and people’s perception of it,” Ghesquière added. “What I think is there is an acceleration in important subjects, like inclusivity.” Maybe it goes back to what he was saying about freedom; that’s certainly a sensation we’re all craving more of.

“This season is very new in every way,” Ghesquière said days before the show. “The conditions that we’re facing are making us think differently. We came up with the idea of different degrees of presence.”

Born in 1987 by the merger of Louis Vuitton and Moet Hennessy. In 1989 Bernard Arnault's Christian Dior acquires LVMH. (Currently, the LVMH Group is located under Christian Dior SA. Parfums Christian Dior, the perfume division of Christian Dior, is under the umbrella of the LVMH Group. In addition to LVMH, Kering, which owns Gucci and Balenciaga, and Richemont, which owns Cartier and Chloe, are the top three companies with many luxury brands in the world.

Bernard Arnault was born in France in 1949. Growing up in a wealthy household that runs a construction company. In 1971, he graduated from Ecole Polytechnique, an elite school in France. After graduating, he got a job at his father's construction company. At the young age of 28, he gained a position as a manager. After that, he entered the development and real estate management industry from the construction industry. In the 1980s, he entered the United States and ran a real estate business, but failed in management. However, here he will learn American management methods such as mergers and acquisitions (M&A), a general term used to describe the consolidation of companies or assets through various types of financial transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, consolidations, tender offers, purchase of assets, and management acquisitions.

In 1984, he embarked on the acquisition of Bussac Saint-Frail, which owns Christian Dior in France. (At that time, Bussac Saint-Freer was a French state-owned enterprise due to the financial crisis.) Bussac Saint-Frere was about 12 times as large as Arnault's company, but his company was closely linked with an investment bank. It succeeded in acquiring Bussac Saint-Frail, which had a business restructuring plan and overcame the company that had made a name for itself.

It goes without saying that the purpose of this acquisition was, of course, to get Dior in hand. The reason why Arnaud entered the brand business is that when he was doing business in the United States, many Americans thought that "France is Dior" and was shocked by its worldwide name recognition. It was because he felt the future of the fashion brand business from the belief that even if it declined once, it could be revived.

Under these circumstances, Arnaud switched the focus of his business from real estate to fashion and began rebuilding Christian Dior. He continued to strengthen both sides of fashion and management, such as hiring people who are familiar with the fashion industry with his own management skills and financial knowledge.

Dior brand began rebuilding in the 1980s. Meanwhile Karl Lagerfeld is CHANEL, he respected the tradition of the brand while incorporating newness, and realized the rejuvenation of the brand. Dior at this time was designed by Marc Bohan, and the newness as a brand was exhausted, and it was in a state of operating only with the legacy of the past.

In 1987, Louis Vuitton and Moet Hennessy merged to form LVMH. The merger established a holding company, LVMH, with a 50-50 stake, under which Louis Vuitton and Moët & Chandon were, but the management teams of both companies were in conflict and did not function well as a company.

LVMH then acquired CELINE in 1987. This was aimed at a synergistic effect with Dior, which lags behind leather products such as bags.

In 1987, he founded Christian Lacroix and joined the group. (Lacroix was Bernard Arnault's enthusiastic investment in establishing his own brand, which was unusual for Arnault's strategy to buy brands one after another, but later sold the brand.)

In 1988, Arnaud acquired up to 40% of LVMH shares in the form of a partnership in this conflict. LVMH acquired Givenchy's perfume and clothing divisions, respectively.

In 1989, Gianfranco Ferré, who was active mainly in Italy and was acclaimed worldwide, was welcomed as a Dior designer. From here Dior regains its youth.

In 1989 Arnaud bought more shares and got LVMH. In this way, Christian Dior became a subsidiary of LVMH, and a huge conglomerate company that could hold fashion brands such as Givenchy, Dior, CELINE, and Louis Vuitton and many luxury liquor brands was born.

Arnaud acquired LVMH with the stable business of high-end liquor (Dom Pérignon, Moet & Chandon, Hennessy, etc.) under Moet & Chandon and the acquisition of Louis Vuitton, which has global strength in bags. The aim is to strengthen the stability of the company and the synergistic effect of bags and clothing fashion.

Bernard Arnault, who built the giant fashion brand empire, will continue further acquisition of fashion brands and bring them under its umbrella. Specifically, Kenzo in 1993, Guerlain in 1994, Loewe in 1996, Thomas Pink in 1999 (luxury shirt brand), Emilio Pucci in 2000, Donna Karan, and Fendi in 2001.

Similar to the reconstruction of Christian Dior, each brand acquired has a rejuvenation strategy and a young designer of interest.

John Galliano was appointed to Christian Dior in 1996 to replace Gianfranco Ferré. Christian Dior made a leap forward, thanks in part to Galliano. Givenchy was appointed by designers such as Galliano, Alexander McQueen, Julien Macdonald, and Ozwald Boateng.

In Celine, Michael Kors, who took office from fall winter 1998-1999, revived the brand and made a big leap forward. In addition, Kenzo's Antonio Marras and Loewe were appointed as designers by Narciso Rodriguez and Jose Enrique Ona Selfa.

Louis Vuitton entered ready-to-wear from fall winter 1998-1999. Marc Jacobs, who was highly acclaimed in the United States, launched the ready-to-wear division. As a creative director, he oversees everything from clothing to bags to accessories, incorporating youth and newness into previous Louis Vuitton bags. (Brands have grown significantly in Asia, including the Louis Vuitton boom)

The official name is LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA (hereinafter referred to as LVMH). A conglomerate company specializing in luxury products with a focus on fashion, based in France.

Louis Vuitton has given a preview of its Pre-Spring 2021 Collection ahead of the digital appearance at the Paris Fashion Week. The collection designed by Virgil Abloh is based on his interpretations of nuance, which is presented as a way of "communicating core humanitarian values through poise, elegance and grace." Virgil Abloh and Louis Vuitton reflect, through nuance, "the core values of diversity, solidarity and inclusion." 

This view of nuance is expressed through the mixing of luxury fashion with references to everyday wear that is defined in the collection notes as the "re-appropriation of elitist codes into symbols of inclusiveness." Referring to the concept of day-to-day essentials, the range has an emphasis on cold-weather outerwear including a green gilet featuring a new circular floral monogram and a windbreaker covered in a leaf pattern that further nods to the practical theme through its camouflage-like feel. 

Certain items include workwear and pajamas-inspired tailoring — further blurring the boundaries between luxury and everyday — while an intarsia sweater is a reference to a classic cable knit, and a printed T-shirt includes instructions on how to knit it. 

As regards sneakers, Louis Vuitton will also introduce a new Pre-Spring 2021 sneaker style, featuring a semi-transparent and shock-absorbent heel. In addition, new Derby and Chelsea boots will be launched, along with archival runners made from suede and mesh. 

The collection can be previewed in the images above, with a complete lookbook set to arrive later this month. The Pre-Collection will be released between the 13th November and the 20th February in a series of drops. Louis Vuitton will also be unveiling its Spring/Summer 2021 collection separately from this collection with a digital presentation on the 10th July.

Yohji Yamamoto and Rick Owens digital shows will be held tomorrow, on the 10th of July, at 17h30 and 18h respectively. We will be able to see Lanvin show on the 13th at 10h and Dior Homme at 14h30 on the same day. Stay tuned! No invitations needed this time.

Representing “the core values of diversity, unity and inclusion.”

LOUIS VUITTON PREVIEWS PRE-SPRING 2021 COLLECTION

Continuing to add contemporary options to their expensive lineup, Louis Vuitton has created a Zipped Tote with the Monogram Glaze in high-gloss. 

The delicate twist to the signature coated canvas on the exterior of the luxury fashion house's new product is accentuated by natural cowhide trimmed and matching black nylon webbing. The concealable backpack straps and top handles offer the bag a hybrid quality and serve as a convertible carrying option. The finishing touches to the bag's design are black hardware, an exterior slip pocket and zip closure that secures the main textile-lined compartment. 

Louis Vuitton trunks were handmade since the 19th century. Contemporary fashion provides a preview of the creation of the LV trunks: "The craftsmen line up the leather and the canvas, tapping one by one in the tiny nails and securing the five-letter solid pick-proof brass locks with an individual custom made key, designed to allow the travelers to use only one key for all of their luggage. Each trunk's wooden frames were made of 30-year-old poplar, which has been allowed to dry for at least four years. Every trunk has had a serial number and could take up to 60 hours to produce, and as much as 15 hours for a suitcase.

Louis Vuitton's iconic bags include the Speedy bag and the Neverfull bags. Louis Vuitton produces rare, limited edition bags each season that are generally available only by reservation through larger Louis Vuitton stores. 

The brown Damier and Monogram Canvas fabrics are used for many of the company's products, both of which have been first used in the late 19th century. The eponymous LV initials are shown on all of the company's goods. The business sells the goods through their own stores distributed across the world, this helps them to monitor the quality and the price of LV products. It also allows LV to avoid the entry of counterfeit goods into their distribution networks.

Rick Owens, Victoria Beckham, Mugler collections are being sold worldwide through multibrand boutiques. We advise you to purchase their products only from highly-trusted reliable boutiques.

Louis Vuitton has created a Zipped Tote with the Monogram Glaze in high-gloss.

LOUIS VUITTON'S ZIPPED BAG MADE OF HIGH-GLOSS MONOGRAM GLAZE

Sometime last Spring — maybe May, Instagram Explore page started to crop up with rolling green meadows, blossoming with wildflowers and buzzing with herds and herds of baby farm animals: loll-tongued kids, shaggy calves and curly-eared ewes. Just over a month later, during the men's fashion week, Parisian designer Jacquemus fled the French capital — followed by crowds of editors and influencers — to a Valensole lavender farm where he would hold his SS20 runway show. 

The esthetic is cottagecore, a trend that shows the transition to a simpler, more sustainable way of living in the romance of pastoral life. Since 2018 its respective digital culture has flourished on social media sites such as Twitter, and more recently on TikTok. But what began as a small, niche movement has evolved, like wildflowers, mainly among suburban teenagers, queer youth, to permeate the collective consciousness — and the fashion industry at large. It wasn't long before some of the most-followed fashion mood boards in Instagram went full country, switching from images of farmers' markets to, well, the farms. Vogue asked us earlier this year: "Is agriculture the most fascinating work in America?" The lush look is everywhere this Spring from storied houses like Louis Vuitton and Dior to Collina Strada. 

Only Simon Porte Jacquemus could persuade the fashion elite to abandon the glitz and glitter of Paris for Middle-of-Nowhere, Provence, in the midst of the men's shows. And on July 24, thousands of the biggest fans of Jacquemus, including Emily Ratajkowski, Chloe Wise and Pernille Teisbaek, all gathered in a vast lavender field in Valensole, an hour drive north of Marseille, to celebrate the 10th Anniversary collection of the designer. And the clothes were as bucolic as the environment itself: straw hats signature of the company, peplum dresses (perfect for putting your shears and growers), matching picnic-linen ginghams and baskets and a number of garden-vegetable designs. The whimsical, rural landscape — and the clothes too — is no surprise to anyone who has heard of the French home. They are not part of a seasonal trend, nor do they send a great eco-conscious fashion message. We are personalized to Jacquemus. After all, the designer had been born on a Provencal estate. "I wanted to present the show in a place I love, a place that reflects me," Jacquemus told Vogue Paris, on the venue, the show day, "I grew up close by. I wanted to mark a milestone here and present my show."

Days earlier, Virgil Abloh with his third Louis Vuitton menswear show, brought Provence to Paris. Models strolled along Place Dauphine's cobblestone streets wearing sun hats and handbags, both overgrown with wildflowers. From the hems of trench coats, anoraks, floral embroideries sprouted and climbed, as if up a trellis. The usual springtime patterns — pansies, anemones, daisies — were followed by the equipment needed to keep them fresh: gardening gloves, watering cans and rubber boots. Yet another homage to the bucolic, the invitation to the show included a DIY kite-making kit, an invitation to skip the town, go out to the woods, enjoy the fresh air. 

Maria Grazia Chiuri has put the outdoors in at Dior. The designer collaborated with Parisian environmental design group Coloco on turning the Dior runway into a veritable forest for the spring/summer 2020 show. The ubiquitous straw hat of the season, adorned with milkmaid braids, work boots, country plaids and, of course, a haystack shirt, wandered beneath the man-made canopy. 

However, given the current state of the fashion industry, it seems rather disingenuous to co-opt the homespun trend for those big houses. Cottagecore — and all of its fantasies of returning to the farm, of working with one's hands, of fleeing — derives from a deep disenfranchisement with the world as it is today. More precisely, the state of industrial capitalism, hyper-consumerism and the destruction of the world. 

Nevertheless, the presence of these brands in the esthetics does represent an optimistic potential for improvement. In the show notes for the SS20 collection of Louis Vuitton, Abloh noted that as a sign of diversity he had chosen wildflowers — which grow heterogeneously in nature. It is a cause close to the heart of Abloh and one that has characterized his tenure at the French house, from his varied casting to his appointment as creative director. Remember the emotional bow (and subsequent Kanye West hug) that Abloh took after his LV debut? This was not only a landmark for the designer himself, but also a groundbreaking moment for black creatives throughout the industry. The 164 trees used to set the scene of the SS20 display at Dior will be planted in and around Paris to protect and enhance the biodiversity of the area. Days later, LVMH held its annual "Future Life" conference, where the group revealed its upcoming environmental initiatives: how to allocate the € 10 million pledged to protect the Amazon rainforest, how the group will use 30% of renewable energy by the end of this year, and how it plans to reduce its CO2 emissions by 25 % compared to 2013.

Rick Owens's last year's London "Glade" exhibition also represents a close connection to the natural world, featuring sculptural head parts from his Spring / Summer 2020 collection, shown at the Paris Fashion Week in 2019. "All of this is connected by a sense of living isolation I likened to gladdening in a forest," he says. "A clearing that was only womb-like and grand at once."

How Cottagecore became this season’s most idyllic trend.

COUNTRYCORE: THE MOST IDYLLIC 2020'S TREND

In today's E-Boy / E-Girl-era, the idea of a celebrity with multicolored hair, countless tattoos and facial piercings will be surprising to absolutely no one. But in the nineties, the boundary-pushing individual style of a 5-time NBA champion Dennis Rodman not only neglected what was expected of him as a professional athlete, but also offered a template for the melting pot of gender-blurring looks that we see through social media and popular culture in 2020. 

New Jersey-born Dennis was growing up as a reserved, introverted kid with an absent father and first found employment as a janitor but then was thrown out by his mom after a run-in with the police for an alleged robbery. After a major growth spurt, however, he started seriously concentrating on basketball, winning a college scholarship before joining the NBA draft and receiving his first contract at the late age of 25. 

Renowned for riling opponents with his violent physical play style, Dennis has become something of an enigma to his fans. In an era in which his looks were restricted by the NBA's strict dress code, headlines in the macho sports world frequently branded him as 'weird' or 'eccentric' for going against the grain with his ever-evolving dye jobs, bent towards a leather look influenced by BDSM, and eye for a dazzling cross-dressing opportunity on the red carpet. Rodman summed up his attitude to fashion and life in the twilight of his career during a 1997 interview and told USA Today, “I just took the chance to be my own man. I just said: 'If you don't like it, kiss my ass...' I'm the guy who's showing people, ‘Hey, it's all right to be different.’"  So let's take a run through some of the most famous fashion moments of basketball's greatest non-conformist in his 90's heyday.

Basketball players have always loved flexing, and the biggest stars of today – players like Dwyane Wade and LeBron James – have brought the game of tunnel style to a whole new level in the last decade. Yet even in today's world, in which eccentric fashion is practically part of the work, the style of 23-year-old Phoenix Sun Kelly Oubre still stands out. Seeing him roll up to games this season in a series of looks so seamless, put together they almost read like a fashion show, it's pretty obvious that he's certainly a new type of NBA style icon — one who knows that just dressing up isn't enough to stand out — and probably even at the Dennis Rodman-level of creativity. Yet edgy skate-wear does not catch the full picture of Oubre's style altogether. Thanks to his preference for dark tempered brands like Rick Owens, Saint Laurent and Givenchy, he's also got a goth flavor.

New Jersey-born Dennis was growing up as a reserved, introverted kid with an absent father and first found employment as a janitor but then was thrown out by his mom after a run-in with the police for an alleged robbery.

After Gucci's helm was taken over by Alessandro Michele, the house's promotional stars ranged from celebrities like Harry Styles and Lana Del Rey to incredibly adorable animals like chickens and piglets. The latter group is taking center stage in Gucci's latest campaign that was shot in southern Spain before the fall of 2020. Titled #SoDeerToMe, the idea behind is simple: "Any pet — a skunk, a frog or an owl — can be the best friend in a child's world." Or any deer, fawn, blue bird, skunk, squirrel, duck, rabbit or hedgehog, from the look of things. 

This We Bought a Zoo-style approach can seem like a clever solution to staging a photo shoot while distancing from society. Yet in fact the idea was formulated before the pandemic. Gucci collaborated earlier this year with the Lions Share Fund, which supports the protection of endangered species and their habitats. Every time the house features an animal in an ad, it donates to the non-profit 0.5 per cent of its media spending. And the party is in for a real windfall, thanks to Michele and the photographer Alasdair McLellan! 

Gucci shines a spotlight on their furry friends also on Instagram. Every photograph comes with a fun fact about the pictured animal, such as how the word "squirrel" derives from the Greek word "shadow-tailed" (skíouros). You can also learn about the diet of teacup-sized hedgehogs, which includes slightly less cute creatures such as centipedes and snails.

The fashion month wrap is usually greeted with excitement — a giddy anticipation that surrounds the forthcoming wardrobes of fall, and the sartorial stories that will unfold on both the streets and the internet. However, this year, when marking the end of four long weeks, there was a more somber feeling as coronavirus spread and fashion iconic locations like Milan were put into lockdown. 

On the catwalk this sentiment was mirrored. Models came out at Max Mara, Rick Owens, and Louis Vuitton ready for combat with parkas that left them enveloped in protective padding, their dresses covered in code. Balenciaga and Loewe, when in need of some sartorial redemption, had us dressed with their clerical collections for church. Paco Rabanne honored Saint Joan of Arc very literally in their signature chainmail with armor plates. Celine, Gucci and Marc Jacobs encouraged us to channel our inner kid, with Peter Pan collars and shortened hemlines, in an effort to lighten the mood. Then there were Bottega Veneta and Valentino's sequined red sheaths, which managed to outshine any impending disaster.

This We Bought a Zoo-style approach can seem like a clever solution to staging a photo shoot while distancing from society. Yet in fact the idea was formulated before the pandemic. 

GUCCI'S NEW CAMPAIGN FEATURES CUTE ANIMALS

The art of typography has come into its own in the digital age, with the rise of the Internet leading to an explosion of new typefaces – from digitally bastardized replicas of sacred fonts to the truly original – used to frame the content of a fast changing world. Even in fashion, the strongest and most prestigious logotypes need to be rebranded.

In October of 2014, Nicolas Ghesquière, a French fashion designer and the current creative director of the house of Louis Vuitton sent his second major collection for the brand down his Paris runway with evident changes in brands traditional monogram “LV”. The new, tubular LV logo feels much more modern yet very inaccessible for mass consumers. The initiative behind the change was coined by the modern theory about how overexposed, widespread and “easily acquirable” the Louis Vuitton bags have gotten, and the house wanted to step up and take their products to another, more sophisticated level, with the monogram change as well as the price raise.

In 2014, the 169-year-old brand Loewe got a new creative director, Jonathan Anderson, better known as J.W. Anderson. He immediately released the rebranded logos, consisting of the Anagram and the logotype, an effort undertaken by Paris-based artists, M/M (Paris). Inspired by the original cattle prods used to stamp the house’s leather, the classic Anagram has been redrawn to reflect the new lightness and contemporariness of the house’s revitalized identity. The logo will appear in black on boxes, bags, and envelopes in a distinguished shade of grey called Humo (meaning smoke in Spanish), designed specifically for the rebranding.

A handful of brands, including Balenciaga with Demna Gvasalia, Burberry under Riccardo Tisci and Celine with the appointment of Hedi Slimane, have recently gone through a logo update. The last company to make a change to its logo was Alexander Wang in 2018. The label's logo has been the same since its launch in 2005 and then, 12 years later, the company got a makeover.

A handful of brands, including Balenciaga with Demna Gvasalia, Burberry under Riccardo Tisci and Celine with the appointment of Hedi Slimane, have recently gone through a logo update. 

The collection was inspired by 'the idea of twisting, turning and pushing Dior, where the lyrically romantic becomes dangerous; a beautiful rose garden becomes poisonous,' explained creative director, Raf Simons. As a result Simons's 'Trans Dior' collection offers up a rebellion on Christian Dior's ladylike propriety, dissecting the house codes with surreal Alice in Wonderland references. One of the look’s pink pleats are sealed with the phrases, 'The Primrose Path', 'The UltraViolet Mouth' and 'Alice Garden', while another relays the capitalized slogans, 'Hyperrealness in the Daytime', 'Always Changing, Forever Now' and 'Convallaria Majalis: Sweetly Poisons’. Utilizing the Lucida Bright font, Simons' stream of consciousness is strewn across his hyperreality floral dresses. These textural dresses belong to Simons's 'Transporter' series, described as the collection's most transgressive element, interrupting the traditional Dior narrative with their own story.

Spring Summer 2014 Ready-to-Wear collection was Marc Jacobs's farewell Vuitton collection. The finale 'look' that came hand-painted and then bejeweled was a homage to Stephen Sprouse's graffitied Louis Vuitton logo, a branding coup that has become an icon of Marc Jacobs for the house.

For the 25th anniversary of DKNY, the brand's design team was in a specific New York-esque state of mind. Extending DKNY's Helvetica Neue Light Bold logo front with a small horizontal line, the repeated branding covered most of the show's sportier separates, which on closer inspection has been connected with the grid of Manhattan's historic garment district from 34th to 42nd street, between Fifth and Ninth avenue. 'We chose this font because it imitates the tall, slim silhouettes of New York City skyscrapers and the graphic intersections of city streets,' explained Jane Chung, DKNY's executive design vice president.

The collection was inspired by 'the idea of twisting, turning and pushing Dior, where the lyrically romantic becomes dangerous; a beautiful rose garden becomes poisonous.'

CUSTOMIZED LETTERING IN DIOR AND VUITTON PRINTS

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