(Runway)
Nicolas Ghesquière Looked To Nature For Louis Vuitton’s Fall/Winter 2026 Collection
Guests were seated among faux mountains.
When was the last time you stopped to appreciate the great outdoors? In a digital age where nearly everything is just a fingertip away, it can be quite easy to lose sight of the natural world around us. For Nicolas Ghesquière, that landscape served as a guiding force for Louis Vuitton’s Fall/Winter 2026 show, held on the final day of Paris Fashion Week. “Nature is the greatest fashion designer,” the show notes read.
Exploring how garments have evolved from their origins as a form of protection, the creative director drew inspiration from mountains, forests, and plains for the collection. “The extreme shapes and details of clothes are formed by the elemental — wind, rain, sun,” the notes continued. “The silhouettes are defined by life in nature, their form language beyond any we could imagine.”
Staged inside the Cour Carrée of the Louvre, the show transformed the historic courtyard into a futuristic landscape, dreamt up by Emmy-winning production designer Jeremy Hindle (who worked on Apple TV+’s Severance), blurring the line between indoors and outdoors. Guests were seated among faux grass and mountains, the latter of which nodded to the late Louis Vuitton’s hometown in the Jura Mountains along the French–Swiss border.
Silhouettes served as a form of defense, symbolizing clothing’s long-standing relationship with climate. The beginning of the show leaned especially avant-garde, with a lineup of coats featuring structured, gigantic shoulders; some were rendered in wool, others made from shearling. Triangular hats, too, shielded heads from whatever weather conditions might arise.
Nature-inspired motifs appeared throughout the collection, from tiny lambs and chickens adorning skirts and the backs of outerwear to floral-patterned quilted jackets and sweaters. The outdoorsy mood was further amplified by models carrying wooden walking sticks with handbags hanging from branches. (The addition of cabin-shaped novelty carryalls didn’t hurt, either.) Meanwhile, the show notes highlighted the use of technology, from 3D-printed buttons and antler-shaped heels to leather treated to resemble wood grain.
Much to the delight of longtime shoppers, Ghesquière brought back Louis Vuitton’s beloved Noé bag, seen with its original 1932 proportions and colorway. As for jewelry, the creative director reimagined a Man Ray parure (aka a set of matching jewelry) once worn by French actor Catherine Deneuve, while other earrings, rings, and necklaces were adorned with trunk-inspired nailhead details.
As with past Louis Vuitton shows, the front row caused plenty of fanfare. Newly minted Olympic gold medalist Alysa Liu made her PFW debut, arriving in a dark gray denim jacket and matching jeans, along with her hallmark striped hair. Zendaya, on the other hand, seemed to confirm those wedding rumors with a voluminous white dress. Simply put, it was the perfect way to close out fashion month.
Scroll below for highlights from the Louis Vuitton Fall/Winter 2026 show.
