Nicolas Ghesquiere's first cruise collection for Louis Vuitton was unveiled to an A-list audience in Monaco this weekend, just along the coast from all the action at the Cannes Film Festival. The collection was shot before the show exclusively by Juergen Teller, whose images were drip-fed to the brand's many aficionados on Twitter and Instagram ahead of the Saturday evening livestream.

Continuing the slim silhouette and Sixties sci-fi feel of his inaugural autumn 2014 collection, Ghesquiere showed tunic tops and long-legged, gently flared trousers in a pastel palette of primrose yellow and bubblegum pink and circle-print Op-art graphics, as well as lace and fine gauge skinny rib tops, some inlaid with metallic detailing and others featured scalloped and cut-out disc detailing. These were worn atop filigree skaters finished with leather.

 

Some pieces were printed with a watery, igneous graphic, the same as the one which appeared on postcards left on each guest's seat, and which lapped at their feet by way of a video screen floor showing coastal water and rocks.

There was a naive floral print too, on deconstructed collarless suiting with integral belts, again with those subtly flared trousers that lengthened legs beyond imagining. It was halfway between folk art and hyper-real, such is the deftness with which Ghesquiere manipulates the eye in a collection like this - the overall feel was at once innovative and space age, with exposed zips on dresses and textured technofabrics on flippy-hemmed outerwear, as well as refined and delicate. Ghesquiere summoned a technical modern elegance that spoke not only of his vision, but also of the vast wealth of artisanal skills, talent and heritage that the brand holds so dearly, and which there is so much of at its HQ and workshops in the French town of Asnieres.

And there were bags too, of course: a new bowling shape with contrast handles and chain-strap pochette stood out, as did the iconic bucket bag, rendered in a tech-y white and tan.