Style Edit: How Louis Vuitton paid homage to French style in its women’s autumn/winter 2023 show at Paris Fashion Week, with chic yet fun mix-and-match looks by Nicolas Ghesquière

Apr 17 , 2023

The finale of the Louis Vuitton autumn/winter 2023 show in Paris. Photos: Louis Vuitton

At the iconic Musée d’Orsay last month, models showed off classical chic looks in glamorous, playful silhouettes to answer the question: what is French style?

Celebrities including Zendaya, Deepika Padukone, Ana de Armas, Emma Stone and the brand’s new menswear creative director, Pharrell Williams, graced the front row

Artistic director Nicolas Ghesquière presented Louis Vuitton women’s autumn/winter 2023 collection at the iconic Musée d’Orsay last month.

The landmark location was a fitting backdrop against which to showcase the latest creations of the French fashion house, unveiled on the second-to-last day of Paris Fashion Week. Designer Ghesquière paid homage to French style in his unique and oft-imitated manner, with classically chic garments in glamorous, vibrant textures and playful, sculptural silhouettes.

Nicolas Ghesquière paid homage to quintessential French style for Louis Vuitton’s autumn/winter 2023 show in Paris.

The runway was designed to evoke daily life on a Parisian street, with the mundane sounds of city life such as whizzing cars, bird song and footsteps accompanying the models down the cobblestone catwalk. An atmosphere of elevated cosmopolitan French-ness permeated the hall.

With the autumn/winter 2023 collection, Ghesquière explores the enigma of French style, trying to articulate just what it is about the nation’s chicness that has captured the imagination of so many around the world.

The 44 looks from the show epitomise French style in all its glamorous but pared-down, totally bold yet highly wearable, and very specific yet blasé glory. Through it all, Ghesquière tries to answer the question: what is French style? And the resounding answer is, it is ineffable.

A textured suit is matched with colour-pop gloves.

From his collection, we would say it is the mix-and-match aesthetic, bringing sophistication and nonchalance together, that creates that moment of audacity, which makes French style so unforgettable.

Oversized boxy jackets and cosy jumpers disguising the models’ bodies were given a thin black belt to cinch in the waist and bring back the feminine form. The makeover of the jackets created a chunky look overall, as though they had been stolen from a boyfriend’s wardrobe.

Dresses ran a wide range – there was the exquisitely tailored bustier evening gown in exaggeratedly feminine proportions and tactile textures that was, again, cinched at the waist with that ever-present thin black belt, underlining the Frenchness of the style.