Nicolas Ghesquière had one wish for his Spring 2025 show: that the collection be “an expression of the Renaissance.” After serving for a decade as Louis Vuitton’s artistic director, Ghesquière told Nicole Phelps he was writing a new chapter for the brand, forging a path through history and toward a sustainable future.
As Ghesquière explains in this week’s episode of The Run-Through, Ghesquière first fell in love with fashion at age 14, when he was browsing magazines at his local library in the suburbs of Paris and watching shows by Alaïa, Lea Muller and Jean-Paul Gaultier on TV. At 18, he worked at Gaultier and later at Balenciaga for 15 years. “I unveiled the new vocabulary of LV,” he said after taking over at Louis Vuitton in 2013. Filled with sharp silhouettes and sophisticated new fabrics, Ghesquière’s first show became iconic. He added, “We know the good values that fashion can bring… growth, acceptance, love for others… all of this already exists, the only difference is that it’s on a smaller scale than today.”
In fact, the company had annual sales of $9 billion when Ghesquiere was founded and now has annual retail sales of more than $20 billion. Yet Ghesquiere told Phelps that he tries to avoid exaggerating his influence. “If you think you’re a fashion leader, you’re dead,” he said, “You can’t get away from that. Honestly, I think if you’re not exposing yourself to some beauty risks… then you’re not playing the fashion game.”
