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.



France's Christian Lacroix Label Heads for Spanish Ownership

Christian Lacroix was created in 1987 by the eponymous designer, with the support of luxury giant LVMH, which sold it in 2005 to Falic Group. (AFP)
Christian Lacroix was created in 1987 by the eponymous designer, with the support of luxury giant LVMH, which sold it in 2005 to Falic Group. (AFP)
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France's Christian Lacroix Label Heads for Spanish Ownership

Christian Lacroix was created in 1987 by the eponymous designer, with the support of luxury giant LVMH, which sold it in 2005 to Falic Group. (AFP)
Christian Lacroix was created in 1987 by the eponymous designer, with the support of luxury giant LVMH, which sold it in 2005 to Falic Group. (AFP)

The Spanish fashion group Sociedad Textil Lonia (STL) announced Tuesday it had reached an agreement to buy France's Christian Lacroix label, hoping to return the once-mighty brand to its former glory.

The deal to acquire Lacroix from US-based Falic group, which specializes in duty-free retail, was for an undisclosed amount in a "private transaction", STL said.

"By acquiring Maison Lacroix, with its treasure of archives and rich history of French haute couture, STL expands its brand portfolio, strengthening its international presence in the world of high fashion," STL stated in a press release.

"We will do everything we can to ensure that the unique talent of its creator and his invaluable contribution to the world of fashion reach their full potential," the group added.

Christian Lacroix was created in 1987 by the eponymous designer, with the support of luxury giant LVMH, which sold it in 2005 to Falic Group.

In 2009, following financial difficulties, the brand implemented a court-ordered recovery plan that resulted in around 100 job cuts and the discontinuation of haute couture operations.

Lacroix, now aged 73, left the group in 2010.

Having spent decades dressing celebrities, he turned to working for ballet and opera productions, as well as collaborating with other labels such as Dries Van Noten.

"The Spanish family that owns STL had the elegance to contact me ahead of the official announcement about the acquisition of the Christian Lacroix name and archives," he told Vogue Business on Tuesday. "We will probably meet soon in an informal way."

Founded in Spain in 1997, STL is a fashion company behind Spanish ready-to-wear brand Purificacion Garcia and the label of Venezuelan-American designer Carolina Herrera, employing 2,500 people and operating 600 stores worldwide, according to its website.