Stepping out of the downpour and into the dark tent standing in the gardens of the Louis Vuitton Foundation felt like entering a protected dig site steps away from the futuristic Frank Gehry structure uncovered several years ago at its inauguration. Cracked mirrored columns jutted at angles from the floor, their sharpened edges well above eye-level. Floodlights gave off a harsh electric glare, reflected into thousands of piercing rays. It was only missing a Stargate or some antique futurism cult to make it complete.
It follows that, even without the show notes, the idea of future past would remain. Translated in a fashion context, the expected undertones of reinterpretation were present. So like a tumbleweed, the collection gathered references and revisited some tropes seen elsewhere, then and now, in the same way that one collects travel trinkets – appropriate considering Vuitton’s trunkmaking heritage. Some were obvious, Margiela-esque trompe-l'oeil dresses-on-dresses, Gaultier hints, Ghesqui
