Feel the might of a fashion invasion.
Feel the might of a fashion invasion.
Lately, there’s been a frisson of excitement circling each cruise season. For a few years running, the houses of Chanel, Dior, Louis Vuitton and Gucci have been unveiling their trans-seasonal collections via big, flashy productions in different locales, each more far-flung and exotic than the next. From Cannes to Cuba, the cities are not only providing inspiration for the designers’ mood boards, but also becoming tools for massive social media outreach. By making the shows buzzworthy events, designer powerhouses are providing a cultural experience well beyond the fashion world.
This year, the cruise season’s whirlwind journey started with Chanel in Cuba. El Paseo del Prado, a public promenade, was shut and used as the runway for the nation’s momentous event. Hundreds of open-top vintage cars were used to transport guests in one of the most ambitious projects that Chanel has ever tackled—to stage the #CocoCuba cruise show in a communist country was an eye-opening chapter for the fashion industry. Meanwhile, Dior and Gucci took a trip to London, where Blenheim Palace and Westminster Abbey served as their show venues respectively. Not to be upstaged, their shows required preparation in Herculean proportions, including a train ride in vintage carriages and the closing of one of Britain’s most visited churches. All in the name of fashion.
Around the same time as Dior and Gucci, Louis Vuitton flew a few hundred guests to attend the cruise show in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Even before the buzz of the event kicked in, international press members, including myself, were comparing notes on how long we would take to reach the historic city—in case you’re wondering, it took me a total of 32 hours.
I arrived just two days before D-day, with a customised itinerary jam packed with exciting activities including a helicopter ride over the scenic coast and a hike to Rio’s iconic monument, Christ the Redeemer. There was a welcome kit waiting on my hotel bed that included the specially crafted Louis Vuitton City Guide, a monogrammed beach towel and a frescobol set (every carioca’s favourite beach paddle ball game). As the first light rose on the horizon of the famous Ipanema beach, I couldn’t wait to snap and VSCO my way through various flat lays and OOTDs.
The beautiful light and spirit of the city were perfect for Instagram posts, replete with the mandatory #lvcruise. It was reported that Vuitton’s specially created hashtag was seen by nearly 200 million on the day of the show, and Instagram posts tagged with the @louisvuitton handle reached more than 190 million people over the course of four days. If you’re talking social media wars, the brand trumped its rivals. The #DiorCruise hashtag reached 127 million users, while the #guccicruise17 hashtag sat at a little more than 100 million users over the show days. As for Chanel? Well, let’s just say Cuba’s ancient WiFi service didn’t help their social media impressions (and reportedly caused an irate Kim Kardashian and the KUWTK crew to flee back to the hallowed land of connectivity after spending a few un-Snapchattable hours in Havana.)
Which brings me to the million-dollar question: What do we make out of all this? Fashion brands are going beyond their role as makers of luxury products to also being travel and destination tastemakers. They bring a sartorial spin to a country or city and make it synonymous with their collection/brand DNA. Forget the fact that these countries existed happily for decades as tourist destinations. Once the fashion houses went in, it was as though the Chanel armada or Louis Vuitton fleet took over. For Dior and Gucci, they took fashion ownership of Bleinheim Palace and Westminster Abbey respectively. This is the true power of fashion today: It can revive and revise a country’s or destination’s relevance and popularity via some pretty bags and sexy shoes. Tripadvisor—are you taking notes?
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From top: Colours abound in Cuba. The exuberant Chanel show. A model sparkles in Gucci at Westminster Abbey. Alessandro Ambrosio at Louis Vuitton’s show in Rio. The finale at Dior. A bevy of boys welcome guests aboard Dior Express.
