Late designer Virgil Abloh’s ‘moving’ latest show arrives in Paris
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Paris (AFP)- Louis Vuitton presented revolutionary designer Virgil Abloh’s latest collection at Paris Fashion Week on Thursday, after his death last year at the age of 41 shocked the industry.
A close associate of Kanye West, Abloh was the first black American to be named creative director of a major French fashion house and introduced streetwear like hoodies and sneakers to the catwalks.
The multi-talented DJ, architect and designer died in November following a private battle with cancer.
Dior designer Kim Jones has paid tribute to the man who replaced him at the head of Louis Vuitton in 2018.
“It’s going to be very emotional,” Jones told AFP in his Paris studio before the show.
“(Virgil and I) traveled the world together. I feel very lucky to have known him. It’s such a waste to think of what he would have done.
“He planned everything so perfectly until the last minute. You have to congratulate him, he was so brave.”
Louis Vuitton performed the show twice on Thursday to accommodate socially distanced crowds.
The collection was 95% ready at the time of Abloh’s death, the brand’s CEO, Michael Burke, told WWD magazine.
This has bought the company time to find a replacement for the coveted position, although it won’t be easy to match Abloh’s credibility.
“It’s a choice that requires daring, just as Virgil’s choice was daring,” said Serge Carreira, fashion specialist at Sciences Po Paris.
“He embodied a new way of being in fashion that included culture and society at large and mixed it all together. He used less elite references and spoke to a very wide range of people,” Carreira added.
“Really Powerful”
Abloh, who ran his own hugely popular Off White label before joining Louis Vuitton, was one of the pioneers of cross-brand collaborations, teaming up with Nike, Evian and even Ikea.
“What Virgil gave a lot of people was to show them how to be multidisciplinary and not be afraid to create what you wanted,” said Bianca Saunders, the rising British designer who presented her first show at the Paris Fashion Week on Wednesday.
“He was really powerful. He impacted so many people’s lives and when I met him he was such a nice person,” she told AFP.
Among the many candidates expected to fill Abloh’s shoes are his former collaborators Samuel Ross and Heron Preston, Reebok designer Kerby Jean-Raymond and British creative director Grace Wales Bonner.
Kanye’s name has also been in the mix.
Louis Vuitton is auctioning 200 pairs of Nike Air Force 1 sneakers, designed by Abloh – with a starting price of $2,000.
The money will go to her “Post-Modern” foundation, which sponsors fashion students of African and African-American descent.
© 2022 AFP
