CHANNELS OF NUANCE

Titled ‘Message in a Bottle’, the Louis Vuitton Spring/Summer 2021 Men’s collection was presented in a voyage of international events from Paris to Shanghai and Tokyo. Unveiled gradually in chapters starting in July through the end of 2020, the format demonstrates Men’s Artistic Director Virgil Abloh’s core values of diversity, inclusivity and unity. The collection additionally proposes a multi-faceted upcycling initiative across his creative platforms. By taking his show to sea, Virgil Abloh embraces the global community of Louis Vuitton and meets his clients in their own parts of the world.

Throughout its voyage the collection transformed in an evolving exchange across cultures and nations. It is a free and inclusive dialogue between the House and its audiences, which transcends the traditional rules of fashion and seasonality. On 6 August 2020, after crossing the oceans, the shipment arrived in Shanghai and the Louis Vuitton Spring Summer 2021 Men’s Runway Show unfolds. No longer animated, ‘Zoooom with friends’ come to life in the collection, which explores Virgil Abloh’s ongoing theme of boyhood: seeing the world through the eyes of a child.

Each different to the other, the puppets represent the fundamental belief in inclusivity embedded within the Louis Vuitton Men’s collections. The Spring-Summer 2021 Men’s collection is founded in four methods of upcycling: new looks made from recycled material, looks repeated from the Fall-Winter 2020 collection, looks freely created by the studio during the lockdown using recycled material, and new looks created from existing ideas. These principles set the premise for the evolution of the collection.