Virgil Abloh, the Louis Vuitton show turns into a tribute

Giant signs in the sea with the words “Forever” (in “Off-White” characters), in the sky the drones write “Virgil was here” with light. Virgil Abloh he was here, passing through the world for 41 years to which he left an immense legacy, which goes beyond being just fashion. For him, killed two days ago for a rare form of heart cancer, the show must, somehow, continue.
And so, as per the calendar, it took place in Miami the fashion show of the Spring / Summer 2022 menswear collection that the same designer had planned for months and which he had worked on until the end of his life.

A show, that of November 30th al Miami Marine Stadium, which has become magic, homage, memory, event, emotion, affection, celebration, recollection, remembrance, travel, feeling of having made history. The indelible signature of a creative who right up to the end underlined his own attitude outside the box transmitted to the male wardrobe through futuristic and electrifying garments.

Collected in the direction of Florida many guests from the world of entertainment, music and fashion, an elite of friends with bold looks, a tribute to the best pieces designed by Abloh arrived by boat on an outdoor platform in front of the structure covered with colored graffiti that hosted the show.

To welcome them also the very tall statue of the American designer monogrammed all over Vuitton to look at a red balloon with the logo of the maison.

And so Maluma, Ricky Martin, Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, Bella Hadid, Pharrell Williams, the whole family Arnault, Ivanka Trump, DJ Khaled, Venus Williams and lots of young rappers on the rise from Gunna a 21 Savage and designers like Jerry Lorenzo, Jonathan Anderson, Nigo, Kerby Jean-Raymond and Francesco Ragazzi of Palm Angels did not celebrate a funeral last night, but yet another creative and revolutionary vision of Virgil Abloh through a fashion festival that has become the most exclusive event of the Art Basel program, the modern art fair that thus begins in the most glittering and memorable of ways.

In fact, in the Spring / Summer 2022 fashion show, the idea of ​​changing shape so dear to the designer was found that allowed him to incorporate a tutu in the tennis uniform of Serena Williams in the past or to put a harness on Timothée Chalamet on the red. carpet of the Golden Globe 2019.

Virgil Abloh, also for his latest fashion show, destroys and redefines the codes of men’s clothing as always: everything is liquid and the boundaries between smart / casual and masculine / feminine are blurred. Why not combine a pink and white puffer jacket with a corset, one varsity jacket to a skirt?

In short, until the end his clothes told the story of those who created them, remembering that Abloh was infinitely imaginative, capable of always reinventing anything, from the accessory to the cut of trousers. As a latest creative statement it appears to be an underlining of its core values.

“When the time came, Virgil wasn’t looking for the limelight, but the limelight found him,” said Michael Burke, CEO of Louis Vuitton before the show, reflecting on Abloh’s career.

It is unlikely, however, that this will be the last tribute to the influential designer, known for his ethics, multidisciplinary approach and kindness, also honored Monday night in London at the British Fashion Awards.

“He’s the greatest cultural communicator since Andy Warhol,” said designer Tremaine Emory who has known Abloh for a decade and worked closely with him.

Virgil was here. I flew who knows where with that red balloon with the knowledge that the word “End” to his story would never be written.

Other stories of Vanity Fair that may interest you:

– Virgil Abloh, the stars who wore Off-White on the red carpet
– Virgil Abloh is gone after an intimate battle with the disease
– Artycapucines: Louis Vuitton artist bags in limited edition