Simply Abu Dhabi Magazine XVIII

2 6 4 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I F or spring/summer 2015, Rajasthan, the land of kings in the northwestern corner of India, inspires Louis Vuitton in an exploration of the origins of menswear, offering a timeless look of true sophistication. While travelling in Rajasthan, Louis Vuitton’s Men’s Style Director Kim Jones discovered Sawai Jai Singh, the king who built Jaipur, India’s pink city, and constructed its fantastic Jantar Mantar astronomical observatory gardens in the early 18th century (which inspired the set design for this season’s runway). From Jaipur and the palaces of the lake cities of Udaipur to Ranthambore, the former hunting grounds of the maharajas of Jaipur, and the Taj Mahal at Agra, a vision of contemporary and eternal India, which predates European traditions and spans over five to six hundred years, has been remixed by Louis Vuitton into a glamorous blend of sophisticated embellished fabrics, smart military tailoring and inventive sport style. In a spectacular modernisation of classic Indian embellishment, shisha mirrored embroidery with LV engraved mirrors, appears constellation-style across flight jackets with blue tone-on-tone high textured embroidery in ceramic-coated and mako yarns. It’s a glamorous sport hybrid that can be worn with high-waist military shorts, or zipped into an all-in-one military flight suit. For this season, pattern is omnipresent. The Louis Vuitton Karakoram motif is translated into a range of subtle zigzag herringbone variations in fine suit wools for peaked lapel jackets and pants with a more defined, slightly higher waist and long, straight leg. Modern India with a 1970s accent shows in the tailoring colourations from warm, natural military khakis and browns to indigo denim blue for crisp cotton suits with embossed leather buttons, and the subtle sheen of silks in a range of formal darks and princely white for evening. Patterns continue in a more pronounced way for shirts inspired by Indian turban fabrics and embroidery motifs. Large-scale, multicolour Karakoram, embellished with the season’s blue, shocking pink and orange colours, appear on a dotted background. This method was taken from India’s Mothra tie dye technique, which places the dots very tightly as a traditional mark of social rank. White cotton and silk shirts serve as a sampler of traditional Indian patterns, interspersed with the signature Gaston V in patchwork jacquard. And filmy silk organza short sleeve shirts, some with the Karakoram motif, display a strikingly airy Indian exoticism. Polo shirts in a V patchwork of bright orange and pink on khaki evoke India’s chic maharaja sportsmen. Louis VuittonHomme S p r i n g / S u m m e r 2 0 1 5