Louis Vuitton landed in Kennedy Airport with a blur of black S.U.V.s and celebrity stardust, clogging the tarmacs outside the old T.W.A. terminal with LV-clad guests who ogled Eero Saarinen’s ode to the space age and clattered into the arrivals lounge in towering LV ankle boots.
The cruise show circus had touched down, and suddenly the most unchic part of New York City had a new look.
The newlyweds Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas were there, clutching each other’s limbs. Emma Stone schmoozed with Julianne Moore, who was wearing a jacket with some sort of emerald green capelet flying off the back (Louis Vuitton, of course). Cate Blanchett, who hadn’t made it to the Met Gala earlier in the week, made it to the airport. Laura Harrier swiveled her head and looked excited.
The terminal, an architectural landmark that opened in 1962 and quickly became a symbol of the dream of soaring into the sky, was abandoned in 2001 and mostly has been out of the public eye. MCR and Morse Development got the rights to redevelop it in 2016 and have been restoring it to full midcentury glory; later this month it reopens as a hotel. A ship may be baptized with a bottle of Champagne, but this was baptism by fashion.
“I think America is the best in streetwear — it really invented streetwear — so what could I bring?” he continued. “I can bring French savoir-faire.” Then he could explore all his associations with the idea of “New York,” like the romantic place it occupies in the mind of a foreigner, the edge where downtown meets uptown, the chaos and mess of the city itself.
In the end, it was an equally chaotic collection. Which may not be the fashion we want (some of Mr. Ghesquière’s shapes are awfully challenging to wear, as some assembled guests proved), but may be the fashion we deserve. Up, up and away.
