All change! Virgil Abloh used his slot at the digital Paris Men’s Fashion Week to instigate a further shake-up of the traditional fashion schedule. Instead of showing his Louis Vuitton collection twice a year during the Paris men’s shows, he’s taking his catwalk on the road and will present it wherever is strategically important. So instead of unveiling his SS21 collection this week, he used his slot on the virtual schedule to post a cute, cartoonish teaser for his new itinerant show format which kicks off on August 6 in Shanghai. That’s when we’ll get the first proper look at the SS21 collection, which will be unveiled at a live fashion event. The upbeat, Abloh-directed film, mixed live-action and animation created by Reggie Know, which bounced along to a squelchy, psychedelic soundtrack by the hip hop group The SA-RA Creative Partners.
It opened at the elegant Louis Vuitton family home – where the brand was founded, in the sleepy Parisian suburb of Asnières. Two handsome workmen transported a mysterious wooden crate from the historic workshops, that still produce the brand’s bespoke commissions, onto a colourful container truck. Along for the ride came a cast of cartoon musicians all sharply dressed. They journey through a rainbow-coloured, kaleidoscopic Paris, before being loaded onto a ship bound, presumably, for Shanghai. Next month’s show he said will be, “probably the biggest leap I’ve made in proposing a new system, how it lives and operates.” If the teaser film is anything to go by, it will be a playful, psychedelic, funk-driven, cool cat happening and complete with an ultra-cute, emoji-fied version of the LV monogram. Tune in for more on August 6.
