Louis Vuitton Spring 2013

Two if by...escalator? True to form, Marc Jacobs saved one helluva dramatic statement for the final day of the spring collections. He was inspired by Daniel Buren's permanent Les Deux Plateaux exhibition at the Grand Palais—450 striped concrete and marble columns in varying heights. Buren created the runway installation, four escalators with horizontal and vertical stripes, from which pairs of models descended.

Each girl wore a subtly different version of what her mate was wearing, the majority of them in the house's signature damier pattern. Of course, the first time Jacobs references the iconic pattern, akin to a logo, it would be through the lens of something abstract and ultra cool. The main runway was done in bright, glossy yellow and white damier.

In his notes, Jacobs noted that the silhouettes were straight columns, basically, "interrupted at three levels"—the shoulder, waist and hem. Heady stuff, but translated, it was chic, wearable, luxe and damn cool. When he strayed from the damier print, he moved to a spare floral print and pattern, that he even used on suede pieces.

His sheer checkerboard looks were an homage to Buren, almost like aerial shots of what his columns look like in the Grand Palais. From the ground, the mod sheer rompers were fun but the pencil skirt, worn with tight sweaters, best translated it.