SAN DIEGO — The stars were out in La Jolla Thursday night as Louis Vuitton unveiled its new 2023 Cruise collection during a runway show at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

So what brought one of the most famous fashion brands of all time to a research facility in San Diego? It all came down to the look, of course.

Nicolas Ghesquière, artistic director of womenswear at Louis Vuitton, recently talked with Women’s Wear Daily, telling the outlet that the architecture of the building sealed the deal for this show.

“I’d seen pictures of the Salk, it was on the cover of the Louis Vuitton magazine in 2019, and I was always curious to see it for real,” Ghesquière told the trade journal. “I was curious about the architecture and environment. So I came down to San Diego a couple of years ago and I didn’t get a chance to see it, but I saw La Jolla and the beach and I enjoyed the atmosphere.”

Founded in 1960 by Jonas Salk, who is widely credited as the developer of the first successful polio vaccine, the Salk Institute’s building caught the eye of Louis Vuitton for its views of the ocean and its open, modernist look with its primary material being concrete.

“Concrete is the material of parking garages and overpasses and highways, but in the Salk Institute, the concrete has an enormous warmth to it and changes in beautiful ways as the sun moves around or the fog rolls in,” according to Nathaniel Kahn, son of Salk Institute architect Louis Kahn. “It couldn’t be too green or too blue, like most concrete. It had to have warmth.”

Among those spotted Thursday evening was none other than Vogue Editor in Chief Anna Wintour, fresh off hosting the Met Gala earlier this month in New York City. Supermodels Miranda Kerr and Salem Mitchell were also present at the event, which took place in front of a sunset backdrop.

“Knives Out” star Ana De Armas and “Eternals” actor Gemma Chan were also photographed among the crowd, along with “Bridgerton” lead Phoebe Dynevor and “13th” filmmaker Ava Duvernay.

It was also a family night out for “This Is 40” and “Knocked Up” actor Leslie Mann, who brought her daughters Iris Apatow — who recently starred in Netflix’s “The Bubble” alongside her mother — and Maude Apatow, fresh off rave reviews for her role as Lexi Howard in HBO’s “Euphoria.”

To see more photos from the San Diego event, including looks from the runway and stars in attendance, check out the gallery below.

You can also watch a recap of the Louis Vuitton Cruise 2023 collection by clicking HERE.