A turn in Louis Vuitton's Menswear by Virgil Abloh
Last week, at the end of what will be forever known as the week carrying the bluest Monday of them all, Virgil Abloh decided to show a collection that not only had the entire fashion world’s minds turning, but also made sure it would mark a change in the direction the LVMH owned brand would be taking from now on.
Fashion has always been a way for designers to hold up a mirror into society’s face and let it wonder whether this was the way she wanted to go. After the year 2020 hit us all in different ways, making sure that the rich would come out richer and the poor come out poorer, I was personally quite excited to see the fashion world make a statement and be inspired by situations that we were not prepared for. Abloh said it quite well; there were conversations that we simply couldn’t have anymore, but fashion was able to show them.
Some designers prefer a literal approach - some, like Christian Siriano, showed their collection in their backgarden, in socially distanced manner, and created facemasks with prints matching the looks. Some, like Prada, showed very cozy outfits that seemed to be wrapped around the models, creating a safe blanket to be protected from this nasty world 2020 has created for us. But 2020 was not all about the pandemic - it was also much about social disparity, and the ever lasting effects of systemic racism, on which a light was shone at the dawn of the lifting of lockdown restrictions, through the cruel murdering of George Floyd.
As the first Black designer ever to be appointed at the head of a big name in a French Maison de Couture, Virgil Abloh has been under a microscope since he stepped foot into the Louis Vuitton Atelier. Making history can sometimes mean that all eyes are watching you. The world is not about to forget the first collection he ever presented to the Fashion World - and the tears of long time friend Kanye West flowing after the last model vanished from the runway at the Palais Royal.
Does that mean that every single collection was a hit? It does not. Black designers tend to have to work twice as hard for the recognition white designers will gain. This is not to say that it is a normal flow of things - it stems from the engrained racism mechanics that have tainted our society and the fashion world for so long. Arriving at a major house was not enough - Virgil had to prove himself over and over again to his peers, and the millions of eyes now looking up to him as a model in life.
To me, this was the collection that meant “Enough is enough”. It feels like Virgil Abloh has stopped pretending that there is a standard to which his designs must be upheld. It feels like he let go, and said exactly what many haven’t been able to say because of a stifling oppressive system.
“As Black people, as trans people, as marginalized people, the world is here for our taking, for it takes so much from us”
Watch the show below:
Image credits: Saul Wlliams Giovanni Giannoni, via WWD