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When it comes to dress code requests, there's nothing like a fashion show to get to the sharp end of sartorial considerations. Prior to Louis Vuitton's Cruise show and really, one shouldn't call it a show; let's say Cruise experience I received these instructions: 'Kindly note the show will be Perfect Quality Louis Vuitton Replica held on white gravelled grounds, therefore please do keep in mind with regards to footwear.' 'Do keep in mind,' I repeated to myself when assembling a suitcase of clothes and accessories that would hopefully survive white gravel and not offend the many style savvy eyes present. I thought of the models. Would they be tasked with navigating white gravel in a stiletto while we guests crunched over it in a flatform at best? But then again, no.

Nicolas Ghesquire, the French fashion house's diminutive and entirely charming creative director, has been busy assimilating streetwear into his sharp luxury agenda. Which fake designer bags means one thing: trainers. Giant, sculpted, slightly ridiculous but ultimately fabulous souped up sneakers. On the feet of his front row influencers, and on the thankful models, weaving their way along his catwalk.

No, not catwalk. This isn't really a catwalk as much as this experience isn't really a show. It is bear with me, we are in the world of Vuitton a maze. No common Hampton Court box hedge job, either: this is an artful (literally, with an Alberto Giacometti here, an Alexander Calder there), white gravelled (there you are) expanse with snaking patios imagined by Joan Mir. Obviously. Because why plonk a catwalk in a tent when you can show off your new collection in the grounds of one of the most notable galleries of the 20th century?

I speak, of course, of the Fondation Maeght, nudging against the foothills of the Alps in Saint Paul de Vence, a village set deep in the manicured landscapes of high quality replica handbags china the Riviera. The complex, which opened in July 1964, was devised by the gallerist and art dealer Aim Maeght, his wife Marguerite, replica louis vuitton bags from china the noted Catalan architect Josep Lluis Sert and a few of their friends: Miro, Calder, Fernand Lger, Georges Braque, Giacometti, Marc Chagall and Eduardo Chillida. The entrance feeds into the Calder garden, where we sip champagne surrounded by his striking (and, helpfully for the social media addicts in tow, Instagram friendly) sculptures.

Here we all are, then: me, Sienna Miller, Jennifer Connelly, La Seydoux, Emma Stone, Ruth Negga, Sophie Turner and so on. But wait: the sky. Forbidding, pregnant with precipitation. The horreur of outdoor seating. The rumour spreads that our hosts have engaged the services of a fashion shaman. This weatherman will hold off the rain (how remains unclear).

Allegedly he was also enlisted for previous Vuitton spectaculars in Rio and Kyoto where, notably, it did not rain. Apparently he did the royal wedding, too, yet no one seems to know for sure which one (though Harry and Meghan were gifted limpid blue skies). Word is, if it pours, he doesn't get paid. Fair enough really, given that is the crux of his assignment.

The show starts. Here come the gravel crunching trainers, plus some over the knee boot hybrids. Ghesquire, being a sort of whizz at futuristic sartorial imagining, has conjured up a tribe, some marked by aaa replica designer handbags a colourful third eye painted on by make up maestro Pat McGrath.'It's about eccentricity,' Ghesquire comments later. 'How an individual can have their own style and start a movement.' Exaggerated shoulders and wickedly off kilter heritage checked tailoring give an impression of modern C suite warriors; while whimsical, pretty printed blouses paired with is it a beanie or is it a beret hats provide a refined sense of the revolutionary.

The voluminous nature of the collection was taken from 'the shapes of the statues [at the Fondation], high quality designer replica handbags which influenced my silhouette'. And, in a grand tradition of admirable eccentrics, there are cats. On handbags, as handbags even devised in collaboration with American Vogue legend and feline fancier Grace Coddington. 'We're friends and it was great to work together to create these very funny bags,' Ghesquire smiles later. 'Grace and I have a cat and dog relationship. She's a cat person replica louis vuitton and I'm a dog person.'

Coddington has Fake Louis Vuitton Replica Bags sharp form with her illustration work. 'I've been drawing my cats for a long time: I replica louis vuitton handbags did a whole book inspired by them, The Catwalk Cats,' she explains (see her Instagram feed for evidence of her adorable output). 'So I pulled out their characters again: Baby was always fat, and Henri was always chunky. Coco was the thinnest of all cats, she was Coco Chanel the fashion cat. They all have their own character, and that's what I illustrate.' To which she adds, reassuringly, 'I usually find I don't like people who don't like animals it doesn't matter whether it's cats, dogs, horses, mice or guinea pigs. And I like birds to be wild there's something rather weird about people who like birds in cages.'

This capsule 'Catogram' collection featuring whimsical drawings of Coddington's cats Pumpkin and Blanket, and of Lon, Ghesquire's dog replica louis vuitton bags rather brilliantly includes an umbrella, 'in case it were raining cats and dogs', as well as, 'a blanket printed with Blanket, my cat'. Coddington adds: 'I even made a trunk, containing bags filled with crayons, Discount Replica Louis Vuitton Bags pencils and paper all things connected with what I'd like to do if I were to go on a picnic. I have a tablecloth, a few little stools my pyjamas to wear so that I would be comfortable.'

After the show, through the gallery (which holds one of the world's largest collections of 20th century paintings), Ghesquire greets his guests and ruminates on the difficult line designers and fashion houses must tread to keep an audience interested season after season. 'We all dream of doing timeless things but the thing is, we're in fashion; every designer wants to respond to the new,' he says. 'This duality brings a constant balancing act I want to last and be referenced, and build a signature, but I also want to be in the moment.'

And then, the clouds start to creak. As the guests weave their way back through the mighty sculpture garden, down come the white water rapids from the sky. One assumes, given that the show is over by this point, the shaman will still collect on his fee.