Wearable and desirable: a love letter to Paris past from Louis Vuitton

Brand closes Paris fashion week with collection steeped in affection for belle i(C)poque era

Louis Vuitton, the world's biggest luxury brand, closed Paris fashion week with a collection steeped in sentimental affection for the city's belle i(C)poque era of 1871 to 1914.

If fashion channels the mood of the times, it is striking when a house whose exclusive logo-stamped luggage has made it a global byword for aspirational living declares the past a more appealing reference than the future.

Especially when the designer is Nicolas Ghesquiire, whose mood boards are usually a blend of science fiction costumes, Japanese anime motifs and landmarks of modernist architecture.

The collection was a love letter to a postcard version of Paris: the age of Folies Bergire and the Eiffel Tower, curlicued lamps on the banks of the Seine and art nouveau metro signs.