Longread brought to you by our Paris fashion correspondent Fee Valaert
Virgil Abloh, Louis Vuitton’s artistic director for men, showed us once again last month how, as an artist such as himself, using a whole new clothing line as an instrument, you can best powerfully convey an essential message. It is the essay written by James Baldwin in 1953 that inspired the creation of the fashion show of Louis Vuitton’s men’s collection for autumn-winter 2021. The presentation of the collection, in the form of a video, addressed a very topical subject told through an encounter between different art forms such as dance, skating, music and, above all, poetry and fashion. The message was carried further in the decoration of the set and choice of location. We, the PureDeLuxe editors, have already deciphered this message for you and together with this new collection, you can discover it yourself in this article.
1/ Who is Virgil Abloh?
Virgil Abloh is a born and bred American fashion designer with Ghanaian roots. He can be proud not only of his two children but also of the long career he has built up during his 40 years on this earth. Soon after graduating from the Illinois Institute Of Technology with a master’s degree in architecture, he and two other friends wrote a blog called The Brilliance, where they talked about and with inspiring people. Virgil also designed a own T-shirt line, which led to a meeting with famous rapper Kanye West. Their friendship blossomed into a collaboration starting at Fendi and later at the RSVP Gallery. This is their own concept store in Chicago where you can get designs from the hottest streetwear designers and vintage key items from the biggest designers.
This concept store reflects the ideas and style of Virgil, who sees himself as a assistant to the designers and people before him, trying to add something to the world of design, and then passing it on to the next generation. With this mindset, he then founded in 2014 his own fashion house Off-White, which today is known worldwide. It is exactly here that his style, which can be described as high end streetwear, broke through and made it to the finalist of the LVMH contest. Like every brand, Off-White also has its own signature. These are black and white diagonally oriented stripes that can be found on the brand’s own designs, as well as on the designs of one of the brand’s many collaborations. Well-known brands that Virgil has teamed up with are: Nike, Jimmy Choo, Monclerand Le Bon Marché in Paris. This was followed in 2018 by his appointment as artistic director of the pret-à-porter for men’s department of the French luxury brand Louis Vuitton. This in itself was a statement, as he is the first African-American menswear designer within a European fashion house.
For more items of this brand: https://www.off—white.com/
- Shoes: https://www.off—white.com/en-fr/shopping/off-white-low-vulcanized-sneakers-16049266 (Off White, price: 190 euros)
- Sweater: https://www.off—white.com/en-fr/shopping/off-white-crewneck-sweater-16049257 (Off White, price: 430 euros)
2/ The vision
Making statements is part of the vision that Virgil Abloh has of fashion and luxury. For him, fashion is a tool with which we say what is not said or speak about something that is not spoken about. He wants to deprogramme existing trends and clothes, which he sees as codes. To accomplish this task as a designer today, Virgil believes one must use the new form of dialogue. It is about a dialogue in which the consumer is central and therefore has much more knowledge and a say. The designer himself says in an interview with hypebeast.com that designing in the past and now is very different. This has created a new space that he wants to fill with creating tangible examples, or rather, statements. To succeed in this, he commits himself 100%, for each new project.
3/ The message
In order to succeed in deprogramming and deprecating the existing codes, the basis by which judgements and preconceptions about another person are formed, we need to break the illusion that is formed and adjust our human values. There must be a reinterpretation that will allow the same opportunities and freedoms for all races, genders and sexualities for generations to come. This is the essential message that Virgil Abloh wants to convey with this latest new fashion show.
4/Stranger In The Village
The way he conveys this message starts at the beginning of the video. We see a beautiful winter- mountain- landscape filmed in Switzerland. The link with the essay called Stranger In The Village by James Baldwin is already made here. The essay is about the writer himself, James Baldwin, who decided to stay in a village in Switzerland for a certain period of time. He chose this village because no one of African-American descent had ever been there. Throughout the essay, he describes what happens, how the villagers react, and how he himself interprets it all.
remaining in a state of innocence long after that innocence is dead turns himself into a monster. -James Baldwin, Stranger In The Village
5/ Take down the walls
The location changes and the African-American singer-songwriter, Saul Williams, whom we saw in the first image, is next seen walking around a construction of green, marble walls. The colour of the walls is not chosen at random. It is the colour that reminds Virgil of his mother, and is often seen in his interior designs. The marble walls contain holes here and there, these are a representation of the deprogramming of the existing codes, or so Saul Williams says as he walks around them: Take down the walls.
As with the previous launches of his collections, Virgil Abloh also bundles fashion with poetry for this presentation. For this edition, he asked the artist Lawrence Weiner to write a few aphorisms, which convey the message. These were then said by Williams on the set. Besides the collapsed walls, here and there we also see pillars covered with mirror glass, which is a representation of the theme that revolves around illusion.
You can Tell a book by its cover, the same place, at the same time, somewhere, somehow. -Lawrence Weiner
6/The Collection
The instrument of the fashion show, the new collection, was presented not only by the models who crisscrossed the set like an ant swarm, but also by the skaters, the musicians and the American rapper Yasiin Bey, who gives a performance at the very end of the video.
Some of the outfits presented range from draped kente cloths to more classic tailored suits. Virgil says he was inspired by his father, who wore the kente cloths and the occasional tailored suit.
Even we see eccentric pieces, such as skirts, that embody the deprogramming we talked about earlier. An outfit that incorporates the great known cultural buildings in a 3D form is a nod to the cultural norms that have become entrenched and need to be readjusted.
These outfits are accompanied by the appropriate accessories, such as the famous Louis Vuitton bags. Some of these bags bear the words Tourist vs. Purist. These words are part of the message being conveyed and reflect the contemporary socio-cultural division of insiders vs. outsiders. This division should be reinterpreted according to Virgil Abloh’s vision.
If the message has inspired you too and you would like to have these items from this collection in your cupboard at home, then you will have to wait until next season. For similar items you can already surf to: https://en.louisvuitton.com/eng-nl/homepage?dispatchCountry=BE .
Do you want more style inspiration? Go visit our PureStyle page!
