Nicolas Ghesquière transformed Paris’s Gare du Nord district into a dreamscape of departure boards and cinematic nostalgia for Louis Vuitton’s Fall/Winter 2025-26 show, staging his collection in a repurposed railway office that pulsed with the romance of travel. Between flickering departure screens and the hypnotic pulse of Kraftwerk’s Trans Europe Express, the presentation wasn’t just a fashion show—it was a love letter to the golden age of transit, where every platform held the promise of reinvention.

The Set: A Station Between Reality and Fantasy

The venue—a courtyard adjacent to Gare du Nord—became a liminal space where art met infrastructure. Monitors broadcast ghostly footage of rushing commuters, evoking the anonymity of train stations, while the stark, sculptural waiting area recalled Thomas Demand’s hyperreal architectural photographs. The effect was part documentary, part dream sequence, mirroring fashion’s own ability to transport wearers beyond the everyday.

The pre-show soundtrack teased what would later be revealed as a Kraftwerk collaboration—a capsule collection featuring the electronic pioneers’ album graphics on leather goods and ready-to-wear, cementing Ghesquière’s flair for unexpected cultural cross-pollination.

The Collection: Suitcases Full of Stories

Ghesquière mined film history’s most iconic train scenes—from the repressed longing of Brief Encounter to the neon dystopia of 2046—translating their emotional weight into 60 looks that blurred utility and fantasy:

The Practical Voyager

✔ Technical outerwear with precision stitching, built for urban navigation
✔ Cargo shorts and New Wave knits that nodded to 1980s trans-European cool
✔ Buffalo plaid reinvented as sculpted dresses, repurposing travel blankets into high fashion

The Romantic Nomad

✔ Sheer trench coats that floated like steam over platforms
✔ Floral slip dresses cut for impulsive midnight departures
✔ Draped gowns that seemed to ripple with the speed of a passing train

The Collector’s Trunk

Accessories doubled as plot devices in this sartorial screenplay:

• Hat boxes and violin cases reimagined as handbags
• Reissued silk scarves featuring designs by Sol Lewitt and Andrée Putman
• A ceramic-bezel watch reviving Vuitton’s first timepiece, designed by Gae Aulenti

Why It Resonates: Fashion as Time Travel

In an era of disposable trends and digital overload, Ghesquière offered something radical: clothes that tell stories. By fusing the grit of transit hubs with the gloss of cinema, he crafted a collection that felt nostalgic without being retro, functional without being mundane. The result was a wardrobe for modern mythmakers—those who see every commute as a chance to shed old skins and embrace new narratives.

Final Departure

As models vanished into the artificial twilight, the show’s message crystallized: Louis Vuitton isn’t just about going places—it’s about the transformative magic of the journey itself.

All aboard? 🚂✨ The full collection arrives in stores August 2025.