Caught in the middle of Resort season, we’re currently stuck in a state of extreme wanderlust and style envy. One after another, fashion houses are presenting – or rather, flaunting – their holiday-inspiring Resort/Cruise collections. And these pre-season collections are always a lot of fun. With less of the seriousness and pressure of the major seasonal collections, designers can get a little more playful with their customers, designing with the primary aim of creating holiday vibes and happy times.
For Cruise 2020, we’re not only gaping at the exquisite wax fabric dresses (thank you, Dior) or the pastel lilac pantsuits (and you, Chanel); we’re also wide-eyed for all the breathtaking locations they chose to set their shows in. From exotic and rustic Marrakech to a space-age Flight Centre, these venues have made stunning backdrops to fashions that we wish we could be putting in our suitcases and taking to a beautiful faraway destination right now. Here is a round-up of the most spellbinding Cruise 2020 runway shows and collections we’ve seen so far, giving you a low-down on the choice of venue, the inspiration for the looks, and the notable people in the front rows. Be sure to check out the upcoming Cruise collections below too – complete with more destinations to put on your travel bucket list.
[Hero image: Chanel. Featured image: Dior.]
Dior
Date: 29 April
Location: Marrakech, Morocco
Dior kicked off the Resort 2020 season with a show presented in the African city of Marrakech. The destination was a kind of homage to Yves Saint Laurent, a former designer for Christian Dior, who considered this place his second home. Dior has often created fashions inspired by travel and destinations, always carefully making sure to express cultural appreciation rather than appropriation. At the Palais El Badi, creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri presented pieces which she had worked on with African ateliers as well as an anthropologist who could advise on creating an authentic collection. Models circled the courtyard’s epic pool lit with hundreds of floating candles, wearing wax fabrics with landscape and tarot motifs
The rustic glamour of a ruined palace provided a beautiful backdrop for the show, and was all envyingly Instagrammed by celebrity guests from Jessica Alba to digital influencer Nicole Warne.
Prada
Date: 2 May
Location: New York
Following Dior’s show, Prada’s Cruise 2020 show venue wasn’t quite as glamorously exotic. However, their show at Prada headquarters West 52nd Street Piano Factory certainly shone bright from the stars that adorned the front rows. Uma Therman, Elle Fanning, Diane Kruger were all spotted amongst the guests. Even so, glitz and glamour wasn’t on Miuccia Prada‘s mind for her Resort 2020 collection. Her looks turned out to be quite humble, understated, and cosy – all in quite a refreshing way. Taking a stand for simplicity and wanting an easy-going, unpretentious collection was partly why Prada decided to present their collection “at home”. The homey sack dresses, high-top sneakers, and peasant tartans definitely made for a classic and familiar home-away-from-home wardrobe.
Chanel
Date: 3 May
Location: Grand Palais, Paris
The first collection presented by Virginie Viard, Karl Lagerfeld‘s successor, was presented in true travellers’ spirit. Transforming Chanel’s vast go-to space of the Grand Palais into a Beaux-Arts style train platform, Viard recalled an experience Chanel herself would have been familiar with on her getaways to La Pausa (the holiday home she built for herself on the French Riviera). As the audience sat on old-fashion benches below the existing Art Nouveau architecture, models walked along beside the train tracks in 79 different looks. Viard loyally stuck to existing Chanel signifiers of tweed and suiting, but added her own touch of femininity with large bows adorning the fronts of blouses, belts, and dresses. There were also sets of printed ruffle-tier dresses, block pastel co-ords, and brightly coloured 80s jackets. As always with Chanel, eyes were focused on the handbags, which featured new sportier cross-body bags as well as tweed backpacks – all perfect for travelling. The House’s bestest of friends took their seats in the front row, from Keira Knightley to Lily-Rose Depp.
Louis Vuitton
Date: 8 May
Location: TWA Flight Center at JFK Airport, New York
Another celebration of Travel, Louis Vuitton‘s Cruise 2020 collection combined a nostalgic tribute to New York’s Art Deco luster with an almost sci-fi Aero-glamour. The runway show was set at a Flight Centre, but Nicolas Ghesquiere was focusing neither on time travel nor air travel. This was a collection about destination, which, on this occasion, was New York City as it was when Ghesquiere first arrived there. Playing around with Wall Street pinstripes on pantsuits, Chrysler building-embroidered leather jackets, and even handbags with “TV screens”, the collection was a glitzy and neo-futuristic image of New York, with its bright lights and round-the-clock buzz. The TWA Flight Centre also provided a historic and space-age atmosphere for the show, having been the centre for air travel since 1962 and since featured in several Stephen Spielberg films. Amongst the jet-setter guests at Louis Vuitton’s runway show were Cate Blanchett, Justin Theroux, and, of course, our Thai Friend of Louis Vuitton, Urassaya Sperbund.
Upcoming Cruise collections:
With cruising now in full swing, stay tuned for these upcoming Resort 2020 runway shows that are sure to inspire a bit of stylish holiday-taking.
Alberta Ferretti
Date: 18 May
Location: The Musée Océanographique, Monaco
Giorgio Armani
Date: 24 May
Location: Tokyo
This will be the label’s first ever Resort collection runway show, which will coincide with the opening of thier Tokyo flagship in the Ginza district.
Gucci
Date: 28 May
Location: The Capitoline Museums in Rome
Chloe
Date: June 5
Location: Shanghai
This will be the label’s first runway show for a Pre-collection.
Karn Chatikavanij
Style Writer
A globetrotter with a love for sushi and Miu Miu, Karn is a fan of all things upbeat, delicious, and well-dressed. Her frequent activities include packing for beach trips, listening to 80s music, and trying to make daytime pyjamas happen.
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