Louis Vuitton Pays Homage to Barcelona Architect Antoni Gaudí in 2025 Cruise Collection 

A model wears a creation by Louis Vuitton during a fashion show for the Cruise 2025 collection in the Park Güell in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, May 23, 2024. (AP)
A model wears a creation by Louis Vuitton during a fashion show for the Cruise 2025 collection in the Park Güell in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, May 23, 2024. (AP)
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Louis Vuitton Pays Homage to Barcelona Architect Antoni Gaudí in 2025 Cruise Collection 

A model wears a creation by Louis Vuitton during a fashion show for the Cruise 2025 collection in the Park Güell in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, May 23, 2024. (AP)
A model wears a creation by Louis Vuitton during a fashion show for the Cruise 2025 collection in the Park Güell in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, May 23, 2024. (AP)

Louis Vuitton unveiled its latest fashion designs at Barcelona’s Park Güell on Thursday, providing the clothes with drama to finally match Antoni Gaudí’s architectural masterpiece.

Nicolas Ghesquiere’s ambitions for the Parisian house’s 2025 Cruise collection were unveiled before an A-list crowd, including actresses Ana de Armas, Jennifer Connelly and Saoirse Ronan.

Louis Vuitton usually unveils its ready-to-wear collections in the French capital, while choosing exotic and attention-grabbing locations for its destination cruise collections.

Where tourists tread daily in tank tops, shorts and flip flops, this UNESCO World Heritage Site for one night was home to cutting-edge garments that blended with its earthly tones that are at once organic and yet seemingly ethereal.

The models weaved their way through the 86 Doric columns that hold up a vaulted square in the center of the park that overlooks Barcelona and the Mediterranean Sea in the distance.

The show notes said Ghesquiere had been inspired by Gaudí’s “legacy in constant mutation” and Spain’s rich artistic heritage.

“As if in homage to such opulent purity, the Maison’s rigorous spirit embraces the country’s passionate character,” the notes read. “The fervor of its colors, its loyalty to tradition elevated into artistic expression, dark and light that never appear contradictory.”

Dramatic silhouettes contrasted with the soft curves of Gaudí’s organic structures, which were then reflected in the dresses that draped and folded into volumes that defied gravity.

And then there were flashes that delighted: a pair of equestrian boots that finished in a bunch of tassels.

The fashion show, however, was not celebrated by all. A group of a few hundred residents protested the event for what they said were the inconveniences it had caused, including reduced parking in the area. The protest also included animal right activists.

The group of protesters located a few streets down the hill from the park’s outer wall could be heard beating drums, blowing air horns and setting off firecrackers before the show kicked off. Catalan police said they arrested one person for resisting violently to their decision to remove the protesters from a street to let traffic through.

Park Güell, pronounced “gu-ay” was started in 1900 as a planned upscale residential development designed by Gaudí, whose other works include the still-in-progress La Sagrada Familia Basilica. But a lack of buyers led to it being ditched in favor of a park that eventually passed into the hands of the Barcelona townhall.

It now receives 4.4 million visitors a year, mostly from the US, Britain, France, Germany and Italy, with Barcelona residents only representing 0.3% of the visitors, according to the park.



Birkin Bag Maker Hermes End of Year Sales Jump

A Mimosa Matte Mississippiensis Alligator Birkin handbag by Hermes is pictured during an auction preview at Sotheby's in Geneva, Switzerland, November 7, 2024. (Reuters)
A Mimosa Matte Mississippiensis Alligator Birkin handbag by Hermes is pictured during an auction preview at Sotheby's in Geneva, Switzerland, November 7, 2024. (Reuters)
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Birkin Bag Maker Hermes End of Year Sales Jump

A Mimosa Matte Mississippiensis Alligator Birkin handbag by Hermes is pictured during an auction preview at Sotheby's in Geneva, Switzerland, November 7, 2024. (Reuters)
A Mimosa Matte Mississippiensis Alligator Birkin handbag by Hermes is pictured during an auction preview at Sotheby's in Geneva, Switzerland, November 7, 2024. (Reuters)

French luxury group Hermes reported an 18% rise in fourth quarter sales on Friday, showing robust appetite from wealthy shoppers for the most expensive luxury items like its Birkin bags, which cost upwards of $10,000.

Hermes continues to outshine rivals like LVMH and Kering-owned Gucci thanks to its wealthier customers as the industry suffers its slowest sales in years. Global luxury sales fell around 2% last year, hurt by a property crisis crimping spending in China and inflation-weary shoppers elsewhere.

"We are celebrating an excellent year, in a tougher environment," Axel Dumas, executive chairman, told journalists on a call.

Sales for the fourth quarter came to 3.96 billion euros ($4.14 billion), an 18% rise at constant exchange rates, accelerating in the important end of year period, with the fastest growth in the Americas and Japan.

The growth beat analyst expectations for a 10% rise, according to a Visible Alpha consensus cited by UBS.

The Hermes leather goods and saddlery division, which accounts for nearly half of group revenue, grew the fastest, up 21.5%. Analysts had expected a rise of 13%.

The double-digit growth at Hermes contrasts with LVMH's 1% rise over the last three months of the year.

Hermes also reported 9% growth in sales in the Asia region excluding Japan, the label's biggest market, despite the downturn in traffic in Greater China seen since the end of the first quarter of 2024.

Dumas added, however, that it was "too early to see an inflection" in the industry, despite some positive signs.

Hermes is known for its tight grip on production, sticking to an annual increase of around 6-7% a year, with order backlogs cushioning it from falling demand while holding up the label's exclusive aura.

Sales in the Americas region clocked 22.3% growth, matching growth in Japan.

Asked about the impact from potential US tariffs on European goods, Dumas said the company would not adjust its production.

"We are attached to keeping our production where it is," he said, citing France for leather goods, Switzerland for watches and Italy for shoes.

"We'll adapt to tariffs, and raise prices accordingly," he added.

The company is raising prices 6-7% this year to reflect higher production costs and exchange rates, Dumas added.