Louis Vuitton looks to the Wild West for AW24 show

Martin Scorcese's film "Killers of the Flower Moon" seemed to have been the inspiration behind Louis Vuitton's autumn-winter 2024/2025 show, which closed the first day of Paris Fashion Week for the season.

The event took a "calmer" approach than the previous shows hosted by Pharrell Williams (it's not every day you privatise the Pont Neuf by covering it in gold). Held at the Jardin d'Acclimatation, photographers entered the catwalk via merry-go-rounds, while the guests - journalists, influencers and celebrities including actors Bradley Cooper, Omar Sy and Tahar Rahim, rapper Playboi Carti and members of the K-Pop group Riize - entered via the Fondation Louis Vuitton.

All the hallmarks of the cowboy suit are present in Louis Vuitton's AW24 collection

Williams' new western celebrated the meeting of cowboy clothing and Native American iconography. 'Iconography', because, let's face it, while Pharell Williams brought the two communities together for his own version of American history, the real story doesn't tell the same tale. This interaction between two cultures, however, allowed Louis Vuitton's ateliers to demonstrate their expertise.

On the cowboy side: fringed jackets, sheriff's ascots, Stetsons, cowboy boots, denim (of course) glazed with pearls and sequins or softened with floral motifs, leather trousers imitating the embossing on horse saddles and plaids for cold desert nights all echoed the traditional chequerboard pattern. Suede, denim, leather and raw materials all arrived patinated, as if aged under the prairie sun of the great American West.

On the Native American side: fine stonework (turquoise is predominant, generally reserved for the summer season), hand-painting and embroidery. Parfleche blankets and Dakota Flower scarves were also been created by Dakota and Lakota (Sioux tribe) artists and craftsmen.

Consideration for indigenous cultures

Proof of this desire to revive and honour the culture of Native Americans was apparent at the end of the show, when Dakota and Lakota artists took to the stage with their traditional instruments.

The show was presented by the Native Voices of Resistance, a powwow group made up of singers from the Native American nations of North America. Created from designs by Dee Jay Two Bears of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, the garments worn by the performers were adorned with modern winter counting patterns, tracing the history of the collaboration and the creation of the collection through the visual language of glyphs.

The show was notable for two things: the presence of women's silhouettes, which is a typical element in this age of fluidity, but it's also interesting to note that it's Nicolas Ghesquière who signs off on women's silhouettes at Louis Vuitton; and the presence of a fur coat (probably fox) and the famous Speedy crocodile bag, at a time when the demand for animal ethics is rife. As such, PETA activists were quick to show their displeasure by attempting to intervene in the show.