Arch Cruise

I love watching Cruise/Resort fashion shows! Every year designers explore their creativity not just to give life to a new collection but also, find an unique place that inspires and speaks to their creations. In this year's season, Maisons had one particular quality in common: iconic architecture as the setup. And as an architect I can say it was a delight to my eyes and a pleasure to watch the presentation of each collection, from Chanel's at Le Corbusier' modernist Cité Radieuse building in Marseille to Max Mara's at historic Palazzo Ducale in Venice.

Speaking of it, I've gathered below a little bit about the story and the architectural details of these amazing constructions. I hope you love it and save it for your next summer travel destination.

Chanel, Cité Radieuse - Marseille

Chanel stages cruise on rooftop of Le Corbusier’s Cité Radieuse in Marseille presenting a collection that celebrated the erratic pattern graphics of the building: balconies, sunscreens and lobby windows appearing in classic-with-a-twist black and white bouclé suits or diagrammatic printed dresses.

Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, the 'Cité Radieuse' (radiant city) designed by Le Corbusier is the first of five 'Unité d'Habitation' and was built between 1947 and 1952. This vertical garden city is a set of individual apartments mounted on stilts and built as a collective structure. It was designed as a proof of concept for a new housing system.

Le Corbusier designed the unrealized Radiant City project in 1930 which sought to improve urban living standards. The design had strict zoning with segregated areas for housing, business, and industry connected by underground transit. Housing would be in tall, standardized residential towers set amongst green spaces.

Gucci, Tate Modern - London

Tate Modern is an art gallery in London, housing the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, defined as from after 1900, and forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives.

Once London’s Bankside Power Station, the original building was designed by Giles Gilbert Scott in the late 1940s, and then remodeled in 2000 by swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron who approached the conversion with a relatively light hand, creating a contemporary public space without diminishing the building's historical presence. The impressive cultural icon has since become the most visited museum of modern art in the world.

The vast subterranean concrete space of the museum was filled for Gucci's fashion show with 10,000 plants – a clash of ‘man and nature, sentimental versus minimal’, the ‘bare concrete Tanks invaded by a poetic panorama of greenery’. The idea of dichotomy ran through the collection itself – the new brand's designer, Sabato De Sarno, cited Gucci’s ‘limitless capability to put together contrasts, make them converse, and find ways to coexist’.

Balenciaga, Museum of Art Pudong - Shanghai

Balenciaga's Spring 2025 resort collection was presented at nightfall at the Jean Nouvel-designed Museum of Art Pudong and the runway was held outdoors in a twilight scape with a view to the bund and Shanghai’s iconic skyline.

Located at the heart of Xiao Lujiazui, Museum of Art Pudong (MAP) broke ground on September 26, 2017 and opened to the public in July, 2021. Invested, built, and managed by the Lujiazui Group and designed by Ateliers Jean Nouvel (AJN), MAP is primarily set out to present world-class exhibitions to its audience as well as showcasing domestic artists.

Labeled as a "domain" by the architecture firm, the Museum of Art Pudong covers an expansive plot of almost 40,000 sqm on the outer banks of the Huangpu River, and offers visitors a culture-driven space surrounded by the river and an undulating landscape of tall trees.

Louis Vuitton, Park Güell - Barcelona

One of architect Antoni Gaudí's greatest creation, Park Güell is a sprawling wonderland of colorful mosaics and nature-inspired architecture. he park is full of whimsical sculptures and stunning examples of Catalan modernism.

‘An architectural utopia,’ described Louis Vuitton of the choice of location, which continues a tradition of Ghesquière showing his Cruise collections in places of architectural significance, such as the Niterói Contemporary Art Museum by Oscar Niemeyer in Rio de Janeiro for the 2017 collection.

Louis Vuitton’s Barcelona cruise show paid homage to Spain with the new collection featuring Matador-inspired hats, lace dresses and ‘monster boots’.

Dior, Drummond Castle - Perthshire

For the Dior Cruise 2025, Maria Grazia Chiuri took a long-awaited trip to the Scottish countryside. Unveiled in the sumptuous gardens of Drummond Castle – an architectural and historical treasure, located near Crieff in Perthshire, the collection oscillated between medieval silhouettes and punk sensibilities, with a strong influence of the Scottish national dress: we saw tartans, kilts and even a set of bagpipes making their way down the paved garden paths of the castle.

The Drummond Castle in Perthshire, is a massive 17th-century estate flanked by stone staircases, pebbled pathways, and pristinely manicured gardens. The town is where Christian Dior once held his own fashion shows in the early 1950s, two of which took place at the local Gleneagles Hotel.

The castle is known for its gardens, described by Historic Environment Scotland as "the best example of formal terraced gardens in Scotland." The magnificent gardens are laid out in the form of a Renaissance garden of the 17th century with parterres, formal terraces, statues, urns and fountains.

Max Mara, Palazzo Ducale - Venice

The Palazzo Ducale in Piazza San Marco, chosen as the setting for the 2025 Resort show, is a masterpiece of Gothic architecture and one of the most iconic landmarks of the city of Venice and its rich cultural heritage.

Founded in the 8th century, the Palazzo Ducale served as the Governor’s Palace and seat of government of the Republic of Venice until the 12th century. Adjacent to the Hall St. Mark’s Basilica, the building once served as a complex of residential, executive, legislative, judicial, and prison functions. The sumptuously decorated halls of the palace have a unique beauty, with overlapping Renaissance and Mannerist decorations. Part of the palace is now open to the public as a museum run by the Venice Civic Art Museum Foundation (MUVE).

Bonus: Jacquemus, Casa Malaparte - Capri

Jacquemus celebrated its 15th anniversary and for the occasion, the designer chose to show its Fall/Winter 2024-2025 collection 'La Casa' within the Villa Malaparte, a sun-drenched property on the isle of Capri - once used as a movie set by french director Jean-Luc Godard in 'Le Mépris.

The Villa is considered one of the masterpieces of modern architecture and one of its main features is that of having a huge staircase that allows you to climb to the roof and from there enjoy the incredible panorama. It was designed around 1937 by the well-known Italian architect Adalberto Libera, one of the leading exponents of rational architecture.