



1 / 6 Chevron Chevron Photos (from left): Gianni Pucci / Indigitalimages.com; Courtesy of Optimum Productions Sailor Moon

From the moment Fernanda Ly stepped onto the Louis Vuitton runway with her pale pink hair and long manga lashes, one thing was clear: Nicolas Ghesquière had finally unleashed his inner nerd. He was inspired, he said, by our digital world—by Minecraft and Tron and Wong Kar Wai sci-fi—which is all well and good. But we spotted a far geekier influence that went nearly unnoticed amid the tough moto jackets and beaded slip dresses: The anime girl (and her video game cousin), who lent a playful, empowering edge to Ghesquière’s Spring show.

Just look at the silver Sailor Moon tiara grazing Ly’s brow. Why, yes, it seems to say—new Louis Vuitton does give you magical girl powers (at least, we'd like to think so). Or see Harleth Kuusik stomping powerfully down the catwalk in Major Motoko Kusanagi’s Ghost in the Shell visor and boyish shag, eternally cool. The militaristic style of Kuusik's red leather coatdress, too, recalls the skintight plugsuit worn by Neon Genesis Evangelion’s mecha pilots, while the sleek lines of Maartje Verhoef’s galactic-print flight suit have us thinking that, if dressed in Vuitton, life post-apocalypse might not be so bad. If this is all just too much (read: unbearably geeky), you could always ignore these offbeat icons—but with their fearless attitudes and one-of-a-kind style, why would anyone want to? Now is the time to invest in a pair of cyberpunk platforms, dig out the old Manic Panic, and start binge-watching Toonami—come spring, we see the Vuitton otaku making an oh-so-fashionable debut.

Watch the Louis Vuitton Spring 2016 ready-to-wear show: