Leather and Knit Details at Louis Vuitton

Leather and Knit Details at Louis Vuitton

Leather and Knit Details at Louis Vuitton | The Cutting Class. Louis Vuitton, AW14, Paris. Nicolas Ghesquière

Louis Vuitton, AW14, Paris.

It was fitting for a house such as Louis Vuitton, that is so renowned for it’s leather goods, that the clothes in the Autumn-Winter 2014 collection reflected the craftsmanship and techniques required to handle leather with sensitivity. It was also interesting to see that the use of leather was balanced with experiments in comfortable and easy-to-wear knit garments. This combination of fabrics gave Nicolas Ghesquière a range of textures to pair and contrast in his first collection for Louis Vuitton.

The sheer wealth of leather craftsmanship that must be available to Ghesquière at Louis Vuitton means that he can work with leather without as many of the construction limitations that would usually mean that leather is relegated to certain garments and silhouettes as a “difficult” fabric. This freedom was expressed through the way that leather was shown in a variety of colours, textures and weights, easily combined with other fabrics and knit collars or layered up upon itself for tonal and contrasting pocket details.

No doubt the crafts people of Louis Vuitton have many skills for reducing the amount of bulk that can sometimes be seen lingering around the thick seam allowances or bulky edges of less resolved leather garments. On bulky fabrics, even the usual construction method for a dart goes out the window. On one garment in this collection the dart shaping appears to have been replaced with a slit in the leather which is then appliquéd onto a contrasting base colour. On another, the leather appears to be lapped and topstitched to take into account the dart shaping without needing the bulk of the full triangle of dart value.

As with many of Ghesquière’s collections at Balenciaga, there were also details worked into the fabric of some garments. In one case a retro floral was punctuated with organically shaped grommets in gold and silver. In a handful of dresses it appeared as though individual feathers had been layered in a gradient of greys, which may also have been created by stitching on rows of lasercut pieces of fabric.

Leather and Knit Details at Louis Vuitton | The Cutting Class. Louis Vuitton, AW14, Paris, Image 1.

Leather and Knit Details at Louis Vuitton | The Cutting Class. Louis Vuitton, AW14, Paris, Image 2.

Leather and Knit Details at Louis Vuitton | The Cutting Class. Louis Vuitton, AW14, Paris, Image 3. Pocket and cuff details.

Leather and Knit Details at Louis Vuitton | The Cutting Class. Louis Vuitton, AW14, Paris, Image 4. Angled knitwear panel.

Leather and Knit Details at Louis Vuitton | The Cutting Class. Louis Vuitton, AW14, Paris, Image 5. Trenchcoat with topstitching.

Leather and Knit Details at Louis Vuitton | The Cutting Class. Louis Vuitton, AW14, Paris, Image 6. Contrast knitwear panels.

Leather and Knit Details at Louis Vuitton | The Cutting Class. Louis Vuitton, AW14, Paris, Image 7. Contrast knit on turtleneck and double breasted press studs.

Leather and Knit Details at Louis Vuitton | The Cutting Class. Louis Vuitton, AW14, Paris, Image 8. Shaped grommets in gold and silver.

Leather and Knit Details at Louis Vuitton | The Cutting Class. Louis Vuitton, AW14, Paris, Image 9. Dart shaping absorbed with horizontal slit.

Leather and Knit Details at Louis Vuitton | The Cutting Class. Louis Vuitton, AW14, Paris, Image 10. Dart appears to be lapped and topstitched to reduce bulk.

Leather and Knit Details at Louis Vuitton | The Cutting Class. Louis Vuitton, AW14, Paris, Image 11. Exposed contrast zip.

Leather and Knit Details at Louis Vuitton | The Cutting Class. Louis Vuitton, AW14, Paris, Image 12.

Leather and Knit Details at Louis Vuitton | The Cutting Class. Louis Vuitton, AW14, Paris, Image 13. Red contrast edging on leather.

Leather and Knit Details at Louis Vuitton | The Cutting Class. Louis Vuitton, AW14, Paris, Image 14. Layered fabric detail gives the appearance of feathers.

Leather and Knit Details at Louis Vuitton | The Cutting Class. Louis Vuitton, AW14, Paris, Image 15. Fabric or feathers layered for gradient effect.

Leather and Knit Details at Louis Vuitton | The Cutting Class. Louis Vuitton, AW14, Paris, Image 16.

Leather and Knit Details at Louis Vuitton | The Cutting Class. Louis Vuitton, AW14, Paris, Image 17.

Leather and Knit Details at Louis Vuitton | The Cutting Class. Louis Vuitton, AW14, Paris, Image 18.

Leather and Knit Details at Louis Vuitton | The Cutting Class. Louis Vuitton, AW14, Paris, Image 19. Diagonal contrast panel.

Leather and Knit Details at Louis Vuitton | The Cutting Class. Louis Vuitton, AW14, Paris, Image 20.

Leather and Knit Details at Louis Vuitton | The Cutting Class. Louis Vuitton, AW14, Paris, Image 21.

Images from Vogue.co.uk»

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