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Business News/ Mint-lounge / Springing surprises
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Springing surprises

Springing surprises

Show stopper: Marc Jacobs designed the Louis Vuitton Spring/Summer 2012 collection inspired by the Parisian spring. Photo by Solve Sundsbo for Louis Vuitton.Premium

Show stopper: Marc Jacobs designed the Louis Vuitton Spring/Summer 2012 collection inspired by the Parisian spring. Photo by Solve Sundsbo for Louis Vuitton.

Earlier this month, Marc Jacobs had talked about the importance of a surprise element in fashion (“People don’t know what they want. They only know when they see it," he said in the March issue of Time magazine). Jacobs had already put his thoughts into action much earlier with Louis Vuitton’s Spring/Summer 2012 women’s collection (that showed in October), which pulled off a surprise like no other, especially after his Fall/Winter collection 2011. Where the Fall/Winter one was all about fetishism, this one was all femininity; the navies and blacks have been replaced by wispy whites and subtle, almost missable, pastels. The strict silhouettes are out, feathery layers in. In an email interview, the creative director for Louis Vuitton talks about the surprise he has thrown up this season. Edited excerpts:

This collection has a childlike innocence and feminine appeal. How did you infuse a wisp of spring into the collection?

Show stopper: Marc Jacobs designed the Louis Vuitton Spring/Summer 2012 collection inspired by the Parisian spring. Photo by Solve Sundsbo for Louis Vuitton.

Given that one’s environment influences the work of a designer, how did busy, buzzing New York City inspire you to create a collection that was so in tune with nature?

Don’t forget that I spend half of my time in Paris and members of my team live in Paris. Both the SS12 Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton collections were born from an idea of romanticism and freshness that we translated in a different way for the two brands.

Comment on the romantic and everlasting appeal of lace that appears in this collection.

While the clothes are simple, there is a multilayered construction. We used cellophane over printed lace and broderie anglaise. The clothes move lightly through the air or allow air to flow through them. They have a cloud-like quality, almost dream-like. Even where there is definition, there is nothing too strict or hard.

Are separates back?

Dream-like: Organza-wrapped broderie anglaise shirt (€2,700, or around Rs1.77 lakh) and skirt (€1,800) with three-strap vernis mules (€950). Photo: Courtesy Louis Vuitton.

What are the colours, fabrics to look out for in spring-summer?The colours are kind, generous and pretty, like the spring. They are translucent; sometimes with white layered over them to create a frosted, almost sugary feel—like spun sugar. It should have defined shapes, but with softness created by using layers of synthetics, georgette, lace and broderie anglaise.

There is a lot of craftsmanship in this collection...

It is amazing. I have an incredible team and atelier, as well as the design team at Louis Vuitton. We did things that we have never done before, like the beautiful eggshell lacquered bag. The meticulous creation of the bag involved a skill that was much more common in the 1920s, but today only one artisan remains. In one case, it took 6 hours to cut the back of one coat and to match all of the plates. We were involved in developing all of the materials, including laser-cut fake leather and special crocodile finishes. It was all very subtle and required an enormous level of craftsmanship, of savoir faire.

shreya.r@livemint.com

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Published: 23 Mar 2012, 08:56 PM IST
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