It was Marc Jacobs' final show... and what an EPIC show it was. Marie Claire's deputy editor Charlotte Moore tells us why it took her breath away.
1. Marc's final masterpiece
Tick-tock, tick-tock went the glowing Louis Vuitton clock, looming above the latest, and final, extravaganza that Marc Jacobs had created for his audience. The funereal black and the retrospective of his show-stopping sets – the carousel, the fountain, the escalators, the hotel corridor (all re-envisaged in glossy black) – certainly felt like the end of an era.
2. 'There's a show girl in all of us' So said Mr Jacobs in the notes on the show that he left on every seat (a rarity these days). 'This collection is dedicated to the women who inspire me and the show girl in every one of them,' he went on. Name-checking everyone from Emmanuelle Alt and Lady Gaga to Liza Minnelli, Miuccia Prada and Edith Piaf – we can't think of a woman in the world who wouldn't want to be on MJ's list.
3. We stepped into a Paris fantasy From the moment we spotted six French maids dusting the steps with huge black feather dusters, we knew we were in for something seriously sexy. Inside the sugar pink doors it was dark and decadent – imagne lots of handsome LV luggage carriers, yet more French maids proffering tea trays and frozen chocolate cherries, plus hundreds of guests nearly tripping on the thick black and blue checked carpet. It was only 9.45am in the morning and we were instantly at the most glamorous party in the world.
4. Stephen Jones' feather-hawks Like sexy supernatural goddesses, every single model wore fabulous plumed headdresses, taking the Moulin Rouge show-girl theme into far wilder more wonderful territory.
5. The actual clothes, bags and shoes What with the models spinning rround on the carousel, gliding out of lifts and going up and down on escalators – we didn't know where to look, nevermind Instagram. But regardless of the drama, there were endless great pieces. From louche jackets punched with shards of jet to oversized football shirts and long, loose dresses pieced together with the finest gauze and fishnet. Black duffle bags, some feathered, were slung over the models' shoulders and most wore flat souped-up biker boots of one kind or another. This might have been the most extravagant carnival of fashion, but these show girls were all about cool casual Vuitton opulence – an aesthetic that Marc Jacobs will always be the master of.
Marc Jacobs' WILL leave Louis Vuitton – read the full story here