Louis Vuitton’s Virgil Abloh continues to march to a different toon with fun Shanghai show
Louis Vuitton’s menswear designer Virgil Abloh did not attend the brand’s spring/summer 2021 men’s collection show in Shanghai last Thursday. In fact, none of the team from Paris were in attendance.
Rather than fly in a large team for the event, as is the norm for a fashion show, only the clothes were sent to Shanghai, meaning that everyone who worked on or attended the show was already in the city. This was in line with precautions to help curb the spread of Covid-19.
Nonetheless, the show, which ran to 60 looks, offered a much-needed sense of fun after so many difficult months. Bright colours, bold patterns and toys stitched into or even looming over the clothes: this was playtime for Abloh.
It felt cartoonish, but then that was the point, with the designer unveiling part of the collection in animated form last month. On July 9, Louis Vuitton screened a short film featuring cartoon characters called Zoooom and his friends, who stow away on a boat sailing from Paris. That was called chapter one. The second chapter was the Shanghai show and a third is planned for Tokyo next month.
The characters in the film are now, as shown in Shanghai, made out of fabric as part of a jacket, trench coat, or even as a sheepskin collar with a lobster draped around the neck. They have also been made into floppy charms, clinging on to a suitcase or worn as a brooch.
Notes on the collection explain that by taking his show to sea, Abloh “embraces the global community of Louis Vuitton and meets his clients in their own parts of the world. Throughout its voyage – which may add destinations along the way – the collection will transform in an evolving exchange across cultures and nations”.
This interchange between communities is important to Abloh, and in the same manifesto he writes of bearing the weight of the responsibility of being a “black man in a French luxury house. Rather than preaching about it, I hope to lead by example and unlock the door for future generations”.
During his time at Louis Vuitton, Abloh has thrown his full weight behind supporting inclusivity and is vocal about helping men and women of colour rise in the industry. Finely attuned to his difference to the Parisian fashion set, he is even comfortable enough to riff on it, suggesting that Zooom may be an autobiographical character. “This season’s story is somewhat unique and calls for a different kind of introduction. You see, a motley crew of characters had arrived in Paris, one unrulier than the other. Zoooom with friends, they called them, for Zoooom was their guide and time travelled fast in their pace.”
Abloh is also shifting the fashion house towards embracing recycling. For Shanghai, Abloh reconfigured the brand’s logo into a recycling sign to drive the point home.
The collection has bright colours, patterns and toys stitched into or even looming over the clothes
In the collection, 25 looks were made from recycled material and another 25 were from ideas taken from the previous collection “re-shown and remembered”.
The notes say the collection is “founded in four methods of upcycling: pieces by recycling material from overstock, pieces upcycled from recycled ideas, pieces upcycled through reiteration from the previous season, and pieces upcycled as part of the ‘Homework’ initiative – a free task of creativity Virgil Abloh set his studio designers during lockdown”.
Ultimately, despite the skilful tailoring required to stitch the toys into the clothes, many of the coats and jackets are unwearable by all but the most diehard fashion fan. However, as a taste of a bigger idea, the show can be thought of as uplifting and filled with joy, while still touching on some weighty issues. As Abloh picks up pace at Louis Vuitton and infuses his deep sense of inclusion through the house, it will be fascinating to see what chapter three delivers in Toyko.