Last week in Avignon, Louis Vuitton took center stage in the Cour d’Honneur of the Palais des Papes. Here, passions typically play out during the city’s celebrated theater festival, yet the stunning Provencal space hosted the fashion maison’s latest Cruise 2026 collection show, exploring the performative aspect of clothing and its inherent artistic and narrative values. A cultural space for many forms of expression, the Cour d’Honneur inspired Louis Vuitton to reflect on the charisma and complexity of a wardrobe and the imagery and ideas it conjures. Whether for everyday or exceptional occasions, clothing has the power to transform mood, appearance, and character—to play an essential supporting role.
Ghesquière’s Vision
On a warm Provençal evening, the vast courtyard of the Palais des Papes was bathed in theatre lights. Here, the Cour d’Honneur usually acts as the heart of Avignon’s annual Festival d’Avignon, but was aglow for the Louis Vuitton Cruise 2026 collection show. In a city famous for centuries-old pageantry, Nicolas Ghesquière wrote his own act, inviting guests to sit on crimson velvet banquettes at the centre of the arena while models circled them like actors playing to the balcony seats. The inversion was more than staging—it was a declaration that clothes, like theatre, demand an audience.
Historic Setting
Courtesy of Louis Vuitton.
“The Cruise 2026 collection explores the performative aspect of clothing, its inherent artistic value, its narrative force, and the emotional power it unleashes” said Louis Vuitton’s press notes—and from then on, the tone was set. The brand has long supported the arts, but choosing the Cour d’Honneur, the festival’s storied stage, underscored Ghesquière’s support for what fashion can mean in the larger picture of culture. The designer’s re-arranged seating echoed Pina Bausch’s 2000 performance in the same courtyard—an early inspiration he recalled when speaking to media ahead of the show.
Runway Highlights
Courtesy of Louis Vuitton.
Courtesy of Louis Vuitton.
Ghesquière’s 45-look lineup read like a manuscript meets space-age storyboard. Brocaded coats of arms, jester-stripe knits, and billowing high-low gowns marched out first, with metallic threads catching the floodlights. Underneath elaborate jacquards were structural signatures that have defined the designer’s Vuitton tenure—from exaggerated shoulders and layered miniskirts to aerodynamic zip-front jackets. Silhouettes referenced knights and troubadours, while the attitude was 21 Century swagger.
Armour for Everyday Life
Courtesy of Louis Vuitton.
Courtesy of Louis Vuitton.
Backstage, Ghesquière reportedly described to other outlets that his creations as “women’s armor for everyday life,” a phrase that crystallised the evening’s dichotomy of romance and protection. Chain-mail-evoking mini shift dresses, thigh-skimming wool cape-coats and sculpted leather bodices flashed silver hardware that would not have been out of place in the papal fortress’s armoury. Yet belly-baring cut-outs, peek-a-boo laser-cut florals and whisper-thin silk skinny scarves tugged the story back into softness, reminding onlookers that vulnerability and strength can—and often must—coexist in a modern wardrobe.
Pleats, Frills, and Victoriana
Courtesy of Louis Vuitton.
Courtesy of Louis Vuitton.
Several looks riffed on medieval pleating techniques, re-imagined in technical organza that fanned out like stage curtains mid-spin. Stiff Victorian collars, glimpsed beneath shimmering lurex fringe or paired with glossy micro-shorts, added another historical layer, while mirrored knee-high boots flashed reflections of the palace walls with each stride. The palette swung wide—from shadowy pewter and paprika-toned velvet to surprising hits of butter-yellow satin—yet always circled back to the sandstone neutrals of Avignon at dusk.
No Ghesquière collection is complete without accessories—and this season’s must-have was the open-toed leather bootie, studded in grommets and stamped with the LV monogram. Alma bags appeared hand-painted with scrolling florals lifted from medieval manuscripts, and cloisonné belt-buckles hinted at Art-Deco geometry, a subtle nod to the house’s reputation for travel-capsule eclecticism.
Why Avignon?
Courtesy of Louis Vuitton.
Choosing Avignon is no random postcard moment. The Palais des Papes—a UNESCO World Heritage Site celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of its inscription—has, in recent decades, reinvented itself as a “cultural laboratory for all forms of expression,” precisely the phrase Vuitton used in its release. Fashion, theatre, medieval architecture and modern technology converged here to remind us that storytelling is not medium-specific. Clothes are scripts, venues are stages, and every wearer has the potential to become both actor and audience.
The Final Curtain
Courtesy of Louis Vuitton.
Courtesy of Louis Vuitton.
In attendance for the final tableau were stars like First Lady Brigitte Macron, Catherine Deneuve, Cate Blanchett, Emma Stone, Jaden Smith, Sophie Turner and Hoyeon, and Stray Kids’ Felix, a Vuitton ambassador, who arrived in a blue-hued suit that echoed the collection’s pastel focus. For its finale, models climbed the palace’s stone bleachers rather than performing a traditional walk. Look after look froze against the ramparts like living gargoyles, glinting in the spotlight while Ghesquière traced a solitary path through the aisles, closing the loop between history and the future. As patrons spilled back into Avignon’s streets, an idea lingered: Louis Vuitton’s Cruise 2026 garments might not just be souvenirs of a night at the palace, they may as well be invitations to perform in our own everyday arenas.
