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Tears for Virgil Abloh at posthumous Paris show
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Gone too soon: United States fashion designer Virgil Abloh acknowledges the audience at the end of the Off-White Women's Fall-Winter 2019/2020 Ready-to-Wear fashion show on Feb. 28, 2019 in Paris. (AFP/Philippe Lopez)
T
here were tears on the catwalk on Thursday as the final Louis Vuitton show by United States designer Virgil Abloh, whose death shocked the industry last year, drew rapturous applause at Paris Fashion Week.
The multi-talented DJ, architect and designer died in November at the age of 41 following a private battle with cancer.
A close associate of Kanye West, Abloh was the first African American to be named creative director of a top French fashion house and brought streetwear and a less elitist approach to the world of luxury.
His final menswear show was built around an elaborate "Dreamhouse" concept with elaborately dressed angels and breakdancing models.
There was a typical blend of street and high style with skirts, laces and heels, and even an outfit that evoked a wedding dress topped with a cap, showing his disregard for gender boundaries.
"I don't believe in gender, I believe in design," Abloh was quoted as saying in the show notes.
During the finale, when the designer traditionally takes a bow, his team emerged instead, bringing the audience to their feet, many with tears in their eyes.
'Such a waste'
Dior designer Kim Jones paid tribute to the man who replaced him at the helm of Louis Vuitton back in 2018.
"It's going to be very emotional," Jones said ahead of the show.
"[Virgil and I] traveled the world together. I feel very lucky to have known him. It's such a waste to think what he would have done.
"He planned everything so perfectly up to the last minute. You have to commend him, he was so brave in it," Jones added.
Louis Vuitton said the final collection was 95 percent ready at the time of Abloh's death. This bought the company time to find a replacement for the coveted job, though it will not be easy to match Abloh's street-cred.
"It's a choice that requires audacity, just as the choice of Virgil was audacious," said Serge Carreira, a fashion specialist at the Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po) in Paris.
'Really powerful'
Abloh, who ran his wildly popular Off-White label before joining Louis Vuitton, was one of the pioneers of collaborations between brands, hooking up with Nike, Evian and even IKEA.
Bianca Saunders, an up-and-coming black British designer who presented her first show at Paris Fashion Week on Wednesday, told AFP: "What Virgil gave to a lot of people is showing them how to be multi-disciplinary and not afraid to create whatever you wanted.
"That was really powerful. He's had an impact on so many people's lives and when I met him, he was such a nice person.”
Among the many candidates rumored to fill Abloh's shoes are former collaborators Samuel Ross and Heron Preston, Reebok designer Kerby Jean-Raymond and British artistic director Grace Wales Bonner.
Kanye's name has also been in the mix.
Louis Vuitton is auctioning 200 pairs of Nike Air Force 1 trainers designed by Abloh with a starting price of US$2,000.
The money will go to its Post-Modern foundation, which sponsors fashion students from African and African American backgrounds.
