Month: December 2021

In one of his last interviews, Virgil Abloh, men’s artistic director of Louis Vuitton, spoke about reprising his show in Miami and what the city meant to him. Louis Vuitton shared the contents of the interview exclusively with WWD.
Why are you doing a spring-summer 2022 spin-off show?
Virgil Abloh: More than a spin-off, this show is part of the collection arc that continues to shape and evolve the Louis Vuitton men’s realm. The pandemic pushed us to adapt our storytelling through new formats, from films to destination shows. This collection is an ongoing tale originally told through film, on which we’re now elaborating on a runway. We’re not simply adding more looks, but creating a physical frame, which both reiterates and cultivates the overall context that began with collection one three years ago.
How would you describe the show?
The collection is founded in a desire to erase the unconscious biases connected with certain dress codes based on the way society programs us to think growing up. We’re framing that premise in symbolism native to the idea of boyhood, an ideology that continues to be part of the Louis Vuitton men’s practice. Recurring elements like paper planes and hot air balloons pertain to

Follow WWD on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

As the robin’s egg blue sky turned to deeper blue, then dove gray with streaks of darker clouds, the reprise show of Louis Vuitton’s men’s spring 2022 collection began — and what had been planned as an uplifting celebration turned into a tribute to the late designer Virgil Abloh, who died Sunday at age 41.
“Oh boy — this is the hardest speech I have ever given,” Michael Burke, chairman and chief executive officer of Louis Vuitton, told the hushed crowd of about 1,500 people, who had taken ferries over from the mainland for a 30-minute ride to a wharf where the show was held (the celebrities arrived by chic gray speed boats with the LV logo and monogram stenciled on the side in blue along with the numbers 7.2, representing the repeat of Abloh’s seventh show for the brand).
Burke emotionally talked of meeting Abloh with Kanye West in Tokyo when fashion designer and founder of A Bathing Ape Nigo introduced them; Burke then invited the two to intern at Fendi. Their relationship developed to the point where, by the time Abloh joined Burke at Vuitton, the CEO considered him “like a son” whose passion “was inconceivable to me….But know through

Follow WWD on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

Shortly after the death of Virgil Abloh, his longtime friend Kim Kardashian West penned an emotional tribute on social media.
On Monday evening, Kardashian West wrote a long post on her official Instagram page about the death of Abloh, who died on Sunday at the age of 41 after a long, private battle with cancer.
“God doesn’t make mistakes. I know that but I still can’t help but ask why. Why Virgil?! Why him so soon?” she wrote. “It’s simply hard to understand why. I have a hard time understanding why so many pure souls were taken away so early. Virgil — you were always so gentle, kind and calm. You somehow made time for everyone.”
“We also talked about your superpower of calmness often. You always gave so much of yourself to the world because you wanted it to be doper. This one is hard to process. I can’t even believe I am writing this… We will miss you so much Virgil and love you so much,” the post continued. “Also I would love to send so much love to his wife Shannon. Because you loved and supported Virgil the way that you did, he was able to give so much of

Follow WWD on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.