Louis Vuitton Presents Its New Men Spring-Summer 2024 Pre-Collection

Igniting sparks has been a recurring motif in the practice of the Louis Vuitton Studio Prêt-à-Porter Homme. Across borders and cultures, people light fires as meeting points around which to gather, share ideas and form communities. The Spring-Summer 2024 Pre-Collection centres on the culture of the bonfire as a universal symbol of unification: a place of illumination that draws us in and connects us. At the cusp of a new era at the Maison, the bonfire likewise serves as a beacon of transition – the eve of a new dawn. The collection was designed by the Louis Vuitton Studio Prêt-à-Porter Homme as a standalone proposal.

The bonfire premise inspires a cosy and functional wardrobe adaptable. Informed by a nature-centric point of departure, the palette spans the colours of the elements from the reds and oranges of fire to the browns and sands of the earth, and the blues and greens of woodlands and the evening sky. A world map pattern that masquerades as camouflage is interpreted in a wealth of expressions. It appears in its most graphic representation in a brown wool suit, technical parka, a fleece jacquard jacket and swim shorts; in abstracted diluted form in a fleece gilet and track pant and reduced to a white-scaled memory in a puffer jacket with a faux fur collar.

Depictions of smoke fill the collection. A smoke effect created through oxidised flocked denim adorns a Monogram cargo suit, while the wavy air that forms around a bonfire is interpreted in a blurry, windy Damier pattern that also evokes the veins of Epi leather. The latter appears in a cotton wool jacquard work suit, in a blue leather jacket, and on the leather sleeve of a zipped wool cardigan. The charcoal of bonfires features on a collared denim jacket, its earthiness echoed in the dark tobacco of a reversible shearling jacket and in the khaki of a puffer created from recycled nylon and using sustainable ecodown which is an eco-friendly alternative to traditional down feathers.

Illuminated by the aurora borealis, the second part of the collection draws on the atmospheric environment of the forest by night. A dégradé pattern informed by the northern lights irradiates a flocked nylon bomber jacket, while a similar effect is evoked in a spray-painted faded denim jacket. A cotton tracksuit and flocked logo pyjama suit are rendered in a bottle green, which likewise appears in a leather caban embossed with Vuitton letters on the back. New graphics unfold in pyjamas patchworked from fliers, and slogans spelled out in pearl embroideries on the back of a black wool overshirt and a light blue and black varsity jacket in wool and shearling.

Bags adapt the bonfire theme of the collection in grained printed canvas and a midnight blue abstract fire motif featured across the icons of the Maison such as the Sac Horizon, the Discovery backpack, the Christopher backpack, and Keepalls ranging from the classic to the 25 and the nano, as well as small leather goods. An Epi Rush print interprets the collection’s smoky air pattern in similar styles, including a Montsouris backpack. A series of limitededition small Keepalls count motorcycle-inspired, crystal-encrusted and studded Damier proposals.

Shoes draw on an outdoors spirit in new expressions of the LV Discovery: a sneaker appears in beige or blue suede with trekking laces; a hiking edition in black or navy comes with waterproof construction; a derby expression is structured in black glazed leather; and an evening version emerges in metallic midnight blue leather. The super-magnified LV Trainer Maxi evolves in all-over black crystal with micro pearl logo details and giant pearl lace charms. They nod at charm necklaces and bracelets with shells and beads in kaleidoscopic finishes, conch earrings, and baguette strass necklaces, bracelets and rings. Baseball caps materialise in the Epi Rush motif or adorned with a new swirly logo and slogans, while beanie hats and scarves splice cable knitting with the Damier pattern.