FORWARD TO 2054
MORPHING THE CODES OF URBAN DRESSING AND ACTIVEWEAR, LOUIS VUITTON INTRODUCES THE 2054 COLLECTION BY VIRGIL ABLOH
Louis Vuitton once again defines what a contemporary wardrobe should be through its 2054 Collection by Virgil Abloh. The new performance line is set for launch in the spring/summer 2020 season and features 100-percent water-repellent technical fabrics including treated calf skin alongside knitwear. The unique name of the collection, 2054, has a special meaning to Louis Vuitton. It fuses the present century with 1854, the year the house was founded and invokes an idea of its clientele’s uniform two hundred years from its point of origin. Think of this collection as the future of clothing. The seasonal collection features 14 pieces in a range of styles and colors, each integrated with transformable elements.
Virgil Abloh has paved the way for multifunctional garments for everyday wear, setting a foundation of new staples.
In this collection, he also employs comp res so morph os is—first introduced in Louis Vuitton’s Pre-Fall 2019 collection—where pocket detailing on garments can be selfcompressed, which is perfect for travelers. For example, one padded overshirt with multiple zips can be compressed into its own back pocket and morphs into a pillow. In another case, a windbreaker that features a front pocket can convert into a pouch.
The collection is also identifiable by several new codes of branding. For one, a threedimensional Louis Vuitton insignia appeared on breast pockets or the pocket flaps of trousers. The classic Monogram is reimagined in a debossed trompe l’oeil relief on a camouflage rainbow motif as a nod at tie-dye motifs.
The pattern is repeated in a black and white interpretation, and appears on the lining of most garments.
Bags, meanwhile, now come in techno fabrics, mixed embossed or puffer leathers complemented with see-through plastic hardware details, adopting the collection’s transformable values. As for the shoes, there’s a black nylon boot with a trail sneaker sole and a black leather utility sneaker with nylon details.
All in all, each piece in this comprehensive collection has been thoughtfully crafted to be versatile, multifunctional and polished at the same time. But don’t just take our word for it: Below, Virgil Abloh himself answers some of the most-asked questions about Louis Vuitton 2054.
“I feel that the future of fashion might not just be clothing as cloths; they will need to do more for the human body”
What is Louis Vuitton 2054?
Louis Vuitton 2054 is our definition of the luxury lifestyle corner of fashion. It’s the idea that fashion speaks to different segments of clients, and while the main collection sets the overall tone for the Louis Vuitton men’s platform, audiences tune in on distinct frequencies. This line is a response to a demand for a high-fashion proposal that fuses the properties of performance-oriented, technical activewear with everyday essentials: predominantly nylon-based garments native to the great outdoors, tweaked and elevated into the luxury summit of fashion.
Why is the line called Louis Vuitton 2054?
Any kind of research begins with understanding what happened in the past. Only when you comprehend the past can you bring something into the present. It’s taking that idea one step further and bringing this line into the future: 2054, the two-hundred-year anniversary of Louis Vuitton, which was founded as a travel brand in 1854. What does Louis Vuitton look like in 2054? What are the lifestyle demands the house will be responding to in the future? How will our collective approach to dressing have evolved? Performance, transformability and versatility seemed like a credible proposal.
What were your creative references/inspiration when designing this collection?
I was very much inspired by camping equipment and the necessity for it to transform and collapse for easy transport. I found intriguing the materials and folding ingenuity that exists in that world of products.
What made you draw on the elements of activewear?
It’s an interest in fashion that can have a relationship to the world around it. We live in a time of increasing awareness—of both ourselves and our surroundings—where businessmen from Paris become weekend warriors in Gstaad, and everyone is testing their own limits. In the process, we are creating a heightened level of expectation for everything we do, including what we wear. We expect design to perform, to multifunction, to serve a purpose beyond the obvious.
Why is Louis Vuitton 2054, a utility wearoriented collection, important to you at this moment in time?
I feel that the future of fashion might not just be clothing as cloths; they will need to do more for the human body. This project was a study in that philosophy.
“We expect design to perform, to multi- function, to serve a purpose beyond the obvious”
What were the challenges you faced when developing a collection that is more complex and technical in terms of materials and execution?
From its inception, the goal with the Louis Vuitton 2054 collection was to reimagine the brand in the future. The materials, the ways of construction, and even ideologies of the future can be made into reality—you just have to dream about it. That gave us a design challenge. I wanted the pieces to transform and multifunctionality is a key theme. All in all, the challenges made the offering much more precise.
Why did you choose to launch Louis Vuitton 2054 as a standalone collection?
We launched the Staples Edition, another offshoot line, as part of the Pre-Fall 2019 season. The idea behind that collection is to hone the essential garments and accessories that create the foundation for our wardrobe. Louis Vuitton 2054 feels like a natural continuation of that idea: to build an infrastructure within the house that covers all areas of our contemporary way of dressing.
Regarding branding, Louis Vuitton 2054 introduces several new signatures: the 3D LV Logo, the trompel'Oeil relief Monogram, transparent Plexiglas zips pullers. How important are new signatures when designing a new collection?
These news signatures are essential in signifying a slightly different DNA that exists in the mainline range we design as a studio. Since the collections run in parallel, I wanted to make a clear distinction between different ethos.
Louis Vuitton 2054 is a transversal collection with key statement pieces as the Sleepall. How did you identify and select these wardrobe pieces?
Capsule One of Louis Vuitton 2054 is a full set of garments to live with. The muse is a client of luxury that actively engages with the outdoors. The pieces that were selected to be designed fit into that wholistic brief.