Louis Vuitton has renewed the contract of its womenswear artistic director Nicolas Ghesquière for another five years, the French luxury house said in a release Tuesday.
Ghesquière, who previously enjoyed a 15-year tenure at Balenciaga, has been in the role at Louis Vuitton since 2013, when he replaced Marc Jacobs.
Ghesquière has worked to increase the sophistication of the Louis Vuitton universe with a time-traveling aesthetic that blends references to Paris’ turn-of-the-century Belle Epoque with a magpie collage of elements plucked from sports, science fiction and pop culture as well as the silhouettes of 1970s and 1980s couturiers including Biba, Claude Montana and more.
His global, modern vision of woman has helped the brand grow its revenues to a record €20 billion in annual sales last year, double the size of the business in 2018.
“[Ghesquière’s] redefinition of the women’s universe at Louis Vuitton, including a sharp new ready-to-wear silhouette, iconic models of leather goods and shoes, and numerous astounding destination shows, has contributed in no uncertain terms to the maison’s success over the past decade. I am very much looking forward to continuing to pave the future of Louis Vuitton together.” said Pietro Beccari, Louis Vuitton’s chief executive.
Learn more:
Louis Vuitton: Has Luxury Outgrown Fashion?
Reactions to the brand’s move to appoint a non-designer as men’s creative director were mixed. But cultural strategies that stretch beyond fashion may be increasingly important to brands at Vuitton’s scale.
