Alicia Vikander and Nicolas Ghesquière Talk Cannes and Fashion Synergy

The relationship between Alicia Vikander and Nicolas Ghesquière is much more than model and muse.

Call it sartorial synergy.

“It’s a bit of Nicolas’ magic, in the sense that he knows what I like and what’s ‘me’ before I do — which is incredible,” said Vikander.

The Oscar-winning actress is fearless on the red carpet, and much of that comes from the Louis Vuitton womenswear creative director’s designs, which she likens to “armor” that gives her added confidence when facing photographers.

They’ve developed a deep friendship since Vikander joined the house of Louis Vuitton as brand ambassador in 2015, bonding over film, design and architecture. The two have shared several significant professional milestones, as well as her very private wedding to actor Michael Fassbender in 2017.

Next will be the Cannes Film Festival premiere of Vikander’s “Firebrand.” Though she has been to the film festival before, it’s the first time she has had a film in the official competition.

In “Firebrand,” Vikander portrays Catherine Parr, the sixth wife of England’s Henry VIII, played by Jude Law. It’s the first time Parr’s story has been portrayed on the big screen.

“It’s kind of brutal, because it’s like, yeah, yeah, she’s the one who survived,” Vikander said of the historical focus on the other, doomed queens in Henry’s queue. Parr was the first woman to publish a book under her own name in the English language.

“She was a feminist and loved fashion, but she spent a lot of tax money on clothes. It was just fabric, fabric, fabric. She did all those good things, but you need to find the real human, and I love that,” she said.

Vikander portrays Parr in what she describes as “badass” costumes that required layers of dresses and jewels, only to be covered up by additional layers of dresses and jewels. Examining the imbalance of the Tudor court and how women were locked away, Vikander said she responded by filming some scenes laying down. “I think you would if you were in those day and night,” she said.

Her Cannes dress is bound to be lighter, though she hadn’t yet stepped into the final version when speaking on a rainy Paris afternoon. However, first fittings for her red carpet dress were proving easy and natural, she said.

Vikander looked back on the various gowns Ghesquière has created for her over the years, from the sweet and sunny yellow frock she wore winning her best actress Oscar in 2016 to some of the tougher, warrior-like gowns, such as a beaded column she wore to the BAFTAs that same year, which she swears weighed upward of 30 pounds.

“To see the very different versions of myself that he’s let me be over the years is amazing,” she said.

Even the one that only her nearest and dearest are privy to: Vikander as a bride.

When the staunchly off-social-media star told the designer about her wedding plans, including her biggest wish that the dress would never be seen by anyone outside of her closest circle, Ghesquière volunteered to design it and promised to take the utmost precaution, no PR involved.

Much to Vikander’s delight, the dress design has remained a secret outside of her closest circles to this day. “Somehow, magically, not one photo exists online. We even had killer drones. I think four paparazzi ended up in jail that night,” she said of the incredibly tight security.

Vikander joked that the dress is even more beautiful now — with an additional element. It’s been through a dry cleaning, but has a band of gray on the bottom, and she holds that detail dear. “It’s so pretty now because it looks the way it does. Now when I look at the dress, it’s like, you can see my night, because I danced!” she said.

“It says a lot about the fun of the night,” Ghesquière said, adding that as much as Vikander has a boyish side, she’s a big romantic at heart.

“I recognize myself a lot in that, too, and in what I do. It’s romanticism with a story,” Ghesquière said of embracing many sides.

That balance was on display at the Oscars in 2016. The pale yellow princess style flounced with a pouf skirt, but the bodice was covered in a subtle lightning bolt design that kept it from crossing into saccharine territory.

The dress not only holds significance because she took home her best actress trophy that night, but because of the memories it created. Her mother, actress Maria Fahl Vikander, passed away in December, she shared.

“It’s been a very emotional year, obviously. A photo of my mother at the Oscars, hugging me, has been shared so many times over the past few months from friends and family. And she looked so beautiful that night. So now that Oscar dress, which was part of one of the biggest moments of my life, now has an even deeper meaning to me,” Vikander said.

“Of all of the photos I have as a grown up, it’s like me and my mom – we looked like a million bucks. And that image will be stuck with me forever. It’s another huge, sweet moment.”

Vikander and Ghesquière collaborated on costumes for HBO’s “Irma Vep” last year, directed by French auteur Olivier Assayas. “We’ve been doing crazy things together,” joked Ghesquière. He had been a longtime fan of Assayas’ work and the 1996 film version of “Irma Vep.” It was a moment of kismet when Vikander reached out about the project.

The three fed off each other during the shooting — creatively of course, despite it being a vampire story — while Vikander temporarily relocated to Paris. Ghesquière said he’s inspired by watching her work. Ideas from her films are pulled into his collections, which then inspire Vikander, who imagines herself in Ghesquière’s sometimes futuristic worlds.

“It was an extraordinary example of our artistic dialogue in real time,” Ghesquière said of Vikander approaching him about the series, as unconventional as it might have seemed. “I believe strongly in loyalty — I mean, let’s call it what it is. We know there’s a lot in that word, but it’s not always easy to behave in that way. And I really appreciate that we built this relationship and built that project and dream together. That’s what we are.”

When not on set or the red carpet, Vikander lives in a small farm in the French countryside, mucking about in boots, and is more obsessed with all things home than haute couture.

She said she skipped the teenage ritual of buying fashion tomes, instead collecting interior design magazines since the age of 11.

“I would build dollhouses and make my own furniture, that was my passion,” Vikander said. Now she and Ghesquière share photos of buildings — they cite Frank Gehry and Lina Bo Bardi as favorite architects — or structures that they see while traveling.

Ghesquière reflected on Vikander’s childhood dollhouses, drawing a comparison to his fashion shows.

“When we think of a space, of course the collection has a story, but it’s usually the character that I imagine could evolve in that environment that is inspiring. It’s so important, when you have the set to imagine all the fantasies of who is going to be the woman who will wear the clothes in this space,” said Ghesquière. “When you build a collection, the set doesn’t come last. It’s the shell of the story you want to tell.”

Ghesquière has told some fantastical fashion show tales over the years, most recently taking over the Han River’s Jamsugyo Bridge in Seoul for its pre-fall show.

“Squid Game” director Hwang Dong-hyuk served as a creative adviser on the show scenography, and star HoYeon Jung opened the show. Pulling in those cultural signifiers was important for Ghesquière. “I wanted to capture the spirit of the city and understand. I didn’t want to arrive there and just say, ‘OK, this is Louis Vuitton and we are setting it on such an iconic bridge,’” he said. “We wanted to be connected.”

The company set up big screens on the river bank to make the show publicly accessible and inclusive, and the soundtrack played traditional Korean music as well as more current K-pop songs.

Ghesquière said the fascination flows both ways between Korea and France, and he wanted to play on both perceptions with the collection.

Vikander attended the show, and said it’s been a dream to work in South Korea since attending the Busan Film Festival in 2010.

Soon it will come true, as she’ll be working in South Korea on the upcoming film “Hope,” costarring Jung and husband Michael Fassbender. The project will be directed by Na Hong-jin. One notes that’s two Louis Vuitton global brand ambassadors in the film.

Vikander hints that she and Ghesquière are discussing further film work for another project, but demurred from giving any details.

“Fashion and cinema have always had a very big love relationship,” added Ghesquière. “It’s a love story between cinema, the actor and designer, the artist and director. I strongly believe that it is nourishing.”