DESIGNERS PACK UP FOR CRUISE 2017

Forget staying local when it comes to Cruise shows. Exotic or old-world charm is more like it for storied fashion houses such as Dior, Chanel, Gucci and Louis Vuitton, which continue to pick high-impact destinations for their Cruise extravaganzas, unscathed by shelling out the big bucks. The latest is Nicolas Ghesquière who chose the Niterói Contemporary Art Museum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to stage the Louis Vuitton Cruise 2017 show. This is probably the first time that the space-age looking landmark by renowned Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer welcomes a fashion show. It certainly will be the first time for the Cloisters at Westminster Abbey in June when Gucci's creative director Alessandro Michele will pack up his Cruise 2017 collection to show in one of London's most historic and suggestive locations. Conversely, when at the end of May Dior will unveil its Cruise collection at the historic Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, England, it will be the third time for the storied French house, which showed in the residence of the Duke of Marlborough and the birthplace of Winston Churchill in 1954 and 1958. From misty England to sundrenched Havana, Cuba, for Chanel's spectacle. Past locations for top houses include New York's DIA-Art Foundation, the Lido of Venice at sunset, a journey through Rome's hidden temples, Pierre Cardin's Bubble house near Cannes, the quaint Portofino, Seoul and Dubai. So buckle up gang…it's take off time.