All aboard the most extravagant fashion cruise

In 1964 John Cheever published a short story called “The Swimmer” in which a seemingly happy suburbanite endeavors to swim his way home through New York’s Westchester County, going from one backyard pool to the next in an odyssey that reveals the truth of his world.

It’s a scenario that came to mind during last cruise (or resort) season, a month-long series of extravaganzas in far-flung destinations that came to a close last week. It wasn’t hard to imagine fashionistas going from one show to the next before finally heading home.

They could have started in Los Angeles with Chanel on May 9, then moved to Seoul with Gucci, then to Mexico City for Dior, then to northern Italy for Louis Vuitton (which, confusingly, had done a previous show). to fall separately in Seoul just a few weeks earlier) and Alberta Ferretti, ending in Rio de Janeiro on June 1 with Carolina Herrera. Many of them may have been invited to their trips by the brands themselves (The New York Times does not accept press trips, so yours truly watches the programs on the computer), traveling the world in a caravan as if the pandemic were a stain. in the rearview mirror mirror.

In other words, for all the paid verbiage in recent seasons to curtail fashion excesses, this was one of the most explosive and mileage-heavy seasons on record, one that widened the gulf between the mega-brands that can orchestrate such shows. . and the rest of the industry.

Each brand, it seemed, was trying to outdo the others by offering “experiences” complete with dinners and celebrity guests dressed to the nines, taking selfies in extraordinary places: Jaden Smith, Eileen Gu and Emma Stone in Isola Bella, Italy, the private island of the Borromeo family (Vuitton); Naomi Watts, Alicia Keys and Riley Keough at the Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso, once the school where Frida Kahlo studied and met Diego Rivera and is now a museum (Dior); Kristen Stewart, G-Dragon and Sofia Richie on the lot of Paramount Studios (Chanel).

It has rarely been so clear that when it comes to fashion, the stakes are now much higher than just clothes.

It’s all about content, baby

The mere fact that the press releases for Gucci’s fashion fantasy of the 14th-century Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul contained not just a description of the “dialogue between the house’s own heritage and the electrifying South Korean shock that Influences Today,” but also a 36- Page document detailing the celebrities and “KOLs” (Key Opinion Leaders) who attended along with their followers on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok, pretty much said it all.

The collection itself, a hybrid of neoprene, logos, suits and chiffon that mixes wetsuits and bourgeoisie, was created by an anonymous team because new Gucci designer, Sarno Saturday hadn’t arrived yet, was significantly less surprising than the idea that over 350 million IG followers gained secondary access to the experience through the posts of the lucky few who actually attended.

In other words, the program allowed the brand to have its exclusivity, to flex its power, the ability to access a historic site that had never hosted a fashion and taste show before, and to advertise it widely as well.

Not to mention courting a market that’s becoming increasingly important as K-pop takes over the world and China becomes increasingly politically complicated. After all, what better way to show respect than to go to the source?

That’s also partly why Wes Gordon decided to bring his first Carolina Herrera cruise show to Brazil, a bouquet of polka dots, juicy flowers and cha-cha ruffles, in a nod to both the brand’s Latino roots and the voracity of the country. appetite for beauty and fragrance.

Also cultural cross pollination

Of course, the destination program also brings other benefits, such as inspiration. Designers have to produce so many collections, so often, that coming up with new ideas each season is practically a Sisyphus task. So one advantage of the traveling collection is that it comes with a built-in set of potential new ingredients based on paying “homage” to the culture and geography where a brand lands. This is a necessary token of appreciation in the age of cultural appropriation, though it may seem more convenient than lasting and authentic, and thematically useful.

Dior’s Maria Grazia Chiuri, in particular, had made a virtue of the trend, positioning her cruise shows as platforms to showcase the work of local artisans and using her power to argue, at least for a season, that the skills that a Often dismissed as “craftsmanship” they deserve the same respect as haute couture. As a result, she has created a specific identity and raison d’être for Dior’s cruise collections that no other brand has achieved.

This season was no different, with six different expert knitters and artisan groups invited to contribute their work to classic Dior shapes like the Bar jacket; shirt dresses with lace petticoats; and filigree dresses (and to sit in the front row of the show). For a grand finale, designed by Mexican artist and activist Elina Chauvet, there was a set of 20 white dresses—muslin toiles, taken from the brand’s archives—embroidered in blood red with hearts and words meant to represent the violence inflicted on women, their fragility and strength. It was jarring but also unexpectedly effective.

Another kind of conceptual liberation was on view at Nicolas Ghesquière’s Louis Vuitton show, which was bizarre in the best possible way: an odd amalgamation of sea creature silhouettes, sci-fi royalty, and romance sparked perhaps by the site of the island but not limited by it. It was a persuasive argument to literally push designers out of their comfort zone. Free the imagination!

and high merchandise

Not that it always works. For Chanel’s Virginie Viard, a trip to Los Angeles led to what seemed like thoughts of roller skating on the Venice boardwalk, “Barbie” (Margot Robbie was in attendance), aerobics, and related clichés, including palm trees, monkeys, and bouclé. bubbly. so saccharine it made the jaw clench. Ms. Viard can casually lean into the soignée: she sees a simple, shimmery tank top with a tuft of a black skirt, when she’s not trying so dazzlingly to be fashionable, but this was a case where going further meant going astray.

Blink in surprise, however, at a particularly creepy aqua warm-up suit and simply turn your gaze elsewhere: to the bright lights and snack carts and movie stars and later a performance by Snoop Dogg. The spectacle around the show was so fabulous that the fact that much of the collection was more souvenir kitsch than chic faded in the rush of fame and fun.

And that, in the end, is the crux of this particular fashion phenomenon. That is memory hung and designed for purchase. Like any piece of concert merch, these collections tap into the atavistic need for a sign that you were there.

Or there-ish.