For Nicolas Ghesquière’s first Louis Vuitton show in China, the designer headed to Shanghai and the Long Museum West Bund. Taking over its concrete cathedral-like galleries, he opened his pre-fall show with a collaboration with the young Chinese artist Sun Yitian. Her paintings of cartoonish blow-up animals – a panda, bunny, duck (a reflection on mass production and ‘Made-in-China’) – adorned neat little shifts, coats, bags and mini skirts. They keyed into the retrofuturism that appeals to the designer and kicked things off in a playful (and highly collectible) way. It set the tone for a collection that thrilled with youthful flourishes – short hemlines, kicky skater skirts – which went hand in hand with the house’s signature craft.

Workwear and denim skater shorts were lavishly embroidered with luscious florals, heavy duty pocket-fronted biker jerkins came in the house’s polished leather whilst chiffon maxi skirts were artfully shredded to reveal plenty of leg. They looked great in motion, worn with stompy footwear which further underlined the fact these were clothes for girls on the go.  Closing the show with a series of striking bubble skirted satin ball gowns, Ghesquière brought a sense of architectural drama. What else would you expect from fashion’s reigning king of silhouette.

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