This miniature marching band, care of Nicolas Ghesquière at Louis Vuitton, was undoubtedly the season’s most enchanting adornment, his shrunken French horns, flutes and trumpets aptly named the ‘LV Symphony’ (as such, they won the Wallpaper* Design Award for ‘Best Orchestral Maneouvre’, revealed in our February 2024 issue). Alongside the delicately created brooches – which also feature the distinct ‘flowers’ of the house’s monogram – other rings and earrings recall the keys of wood instruments as if waiting to be pressed.
The accessories – which add a surreal flourish to scarves, hats, blouses, fingers or ears – originally appeared in the house’s A/W 2023 show, where Ghesquière said he wanted them to appear as ‘faux-semblants’, or illusions across the time-hopping collection. The fantastical mood extended to the equally intriguing boots, featuring hand-painted trompe l’oeil Mary Janes, and the set which comprised ‘sound illusions’ evocative of a Paris street.
Wallpaper* Design Awards 2024, best orchestral manoeuvre: ‘LV Symphony’ by Louis Vuitton
Created by French artist Philippe Parreno in collaboration with Hollywood set designer James Chinlund and composer Nicolas Becker, enormous spiked speakers were dotted around the Musée d'Orsay space, emitting sounds of clacking heels, beeping horns, or booming aeroplanes flying overhead.
It marked Ghesquière’s second collaboration with the team: the season prior, Parreno created a ‘monster flower’ to provide a surreal, circus-like backdrop for his S/S 2023 show. Speaking to Wallpaper* at the time, Parreno said that the collaboration ‘was a perfect coincidence’.
A version of this article appears in the February 2024 issue of Wallpaper* – dedicated to the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2024 – available in print, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today
‘LV Symphony’ is available from Louis Vuitton’s website and boutiques.
