The new normal in Virgil Abloh's FW21 for Louis Vuitton

Virgil Abloh presents his first Louis Vuitton collection with a fashion show that we could define as a real artistic performance.

The models of the Men’s Fall/Winter 2021 show move between Paris and a village in the Swiss mountains. What comes out is, as we have already said, a performance expressed through poetry, music and dance.

But let’s start from the beginning. The inspiration comes from a 1953 essay written by James Baldwin and entitled “Stranger in the Village“. Here the writer talks about his experience as an African American ‘visitor’ in the Swiss village of Leukerbad and his life as a black citizen of America. He talks about how difficult it is to be recognized in society or to be considered different and even alien at times.This will be the common thread in Virgil Abloh‘s fashion show.

In fact, if we focus on the performance and the scenography, these try to fully represent the psychological and physical conflicts that we find in Baldwin’s essay. Like the set in Paris which in fact takes up the Swiss village by recreating a sort of marble stage that should represent the different emotions felt by the author in that period.

But now let’s get to the heart of the collection. The first important aspect to consider is that the designer decides to take different archetypes such as the writer, the wanderer, the architect, the student. All roles often linked to social preconceptions of the cultural, sexual and gender landscape. Those that represent only limits within our society, however, become the strengths of the collection for the Artistic Director. Just keep the codes, changing the values.

In a society, therefore, in which judgment starts from the observation of how a person is dressed, the Louis Vuitton FW21 collection aims to empty the prejudices that we build each time around each individual in order to finally be free. In fact, if we focus on the accessories and jewels of this collection we can see several messages such as “YOU CAN TELL A BOOK BY ITS COVER“, “THE SAME PLACE AT THE SAME TIME“, “(SOMEWHERE SOMEHOW)“, created by one of the exponents Principals of Conceptual Art Lawrence Weiner. Another sign is “Tourist vs. Purist“, the slogan Virgil wrote as soon as he entered Louis Vuitton in 2018 and which returned to the bags this season.

The items on offer are tied to simple tailoring, with floor-length coats, draped African scarves, kilts and Western hats. The use of tartan combined with draped fabric, different prints, leather motocross suits. All elements that, together with the fabrics, evoke memories of his childhood in Virgil Abloh.

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The Artistic Director then tries to create a ‘new normal‘. A normality without prejudice, in which there can be the same opportunities, the same freedoms, the same rights. For him fashion, fashion shows are not just what we see but everything that lies behind it. They are the only means through which it is possible to address certain discourses, certain issues. The only way to send clear messages that reach the public directly.

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Armida Manna

Laureata in Fashion Design presso la NABA di Milano. Affascinata dal mondo dello streetwear ,dalle contaminazioni di diversi stili capaci di generare ogni volta qualcosa di unico e dalla grafica. Credo che, nel mondo della moda come della scrittura, siano i dettagli a fare la differenza.