(Paris) It was in a sky blue “dream house” that Louis Vuitton unveiled Thursday in Paris the latest collection of Virgil Abloh, who died in November at the age of 41, who was applauded standing by a tearful audience.
Posted at 9:46 a.m.
Updated at 11:51 a.m.
Models in white outfits with angel wings closed the Louis Vuitton fashion show under the glass roofs of the Carreau du temple, the highlight of men’s ready-to-wear week in Paris.
When the designer traditionally comes to greet the public after the show, it was some 30 members of Virgil Abloh’s team, wearing t-shirts in the colors of the setting sun, purple and orange, who walked on the catwalk triggering tears and standing ovation.
The parade-performance of which Virgil Abloh, designer, architect and DJ, was fond, took place in a staging representing a spacious and open-plan “dream house”.
Skirts, laces and heeled boots are omnipresent in the collection, mixing street wear and classic cut, as well as kaftans and djellabas, these unisex silhouettes. An outfit reminiscent of a wedding dress with a train and a veil over a cap is worn by a man.
“He planned everything”
PHOTO VIOLETA SANTOS MOURA, REUTERS
The parade-performance of which Virgil Abloh was fond took place in a staging representing a spacious and open-plan “dream house”.
“I don’t believe in genres, I believe in design,” said Virgil Abloh, who died at age 41 of cancer that he hadn’t revealed to the general public.
In the bedroom, the furniture moves to the rhythm of the artists performing dance steps and acrobatics. At the living room table are the musicians of Chineke!, the first professional classical music orchestra celebrating diversity, who accompany the parade of live music, chosen by the designer.
“He planned everything so perfectly until the last minute,” said Kim Jones, artistic director of Dior’s men’s collections, formerly of Vuitton, to AFP. “Virgil and I have traveled the world together. I feel very lucky to have known him. What a waste when you think what he could have done! »
The collection unveiled Thursday was “95% ready” before the death of Virgil Abloh, said Michael Burke, the brand’s CEO, in an interview with WWD.
This is probably the reason why the house has not yet publicly raised the question of its succession.
“It’s a choice that will require audacity, just as Virgil’s choice was audacious,” analyzes Serge Carreira, lecturer at Sciences Po. ‘there is no urgency’.
“Honoring the Legacy”
PHOTO VIOLETA SANTOS MOURA, REUTERS
“He planned everything so perfectly until the last minute,” said Kim Jones, artistic director of Dior’s men’s collections, formerly of Vuitton, to AFP.
The only black designer in a position of this level in a luxury house with Olivier Rousteing at Balmain, he “embodied a new way of understanding fashion which also includes culture, society, major movements and mixes everything”, underlines Serge Carreira.
Author of multiple collaborations ranging from Nike to Evian and IKEA via exhibitions with the Japanese visual artist Takashi Murakami, “he took less elitist references and with a field of expression that really spoke to very broad categories”, adds -he.
“Virgil showed how to be multidisciplinary and not be afraid to create what you want. It was really powerful. He had an impact on the lives of so many people,” Bianca Saunders, a London designer with Afro-Caribbean roots who made her debut on Wednesday with a show at Paris Fashion Week, told AFP.
Charity sale of sneakers
PHOTO VIOLETA SANTOS MOURA, REUTERS
The collection unveiled Thursday was “95% ready” before Virgil Abloh’s death, said Michael Burke, CEO of the brand.
The choice of successor, will he have to respect the heritage of Abloh who denounced racism and had campaigned for a more inclusive society?
Among the potential black candidates, were cited his former collaborators Samuel Ross and Heron Preston, the artistic director of Reebok, Kerby Jean-Raymond, the Briton Grace Wales Bonner and even the rapper and designer Kanye West, friend of Abloh.
The names of creators “unemployed” Kris van Assche after his departure from Berluti and Daniel Lee who left Bottega Veneta, but also Riccardo Tisci (Burberry, ex-Givenchy) are also mentioned.
Another strong event in tribute to the designer, Louis Vuitton joined forces with Sotheby’s for the charity auction of 200 pairs of Louis Vuitton and Nike “Air Force 1” sneakers designed by Virgil Abloh, at a minimum of $2,000.
Proceeds will go to his Post-Modern Foundation, a scholarship supporting the education of promising students of African American and African descent.