Virgil Abloh's Last Show in Paris Reminded Us All To Chase Our Dreams

Virgil Abloh

 Virgil Abloh rose to prominence as Kanye West's creative director before making history as the first African-American to lead Louis Vuitton as artistic director - mixing luxury clothing with streetwear. He was also the founder of the Off-White fashion label

Following his death last November aged just 41, Louis Vuitton's parent company LVMH described him as a "genius" and a "visionary".

On Thursday 20th January, Louis Vuitton dedicated its tear-stained catwalk show to the late Virgil Abloh's last collection.

Before his death, Virgil Abloh had already designed his autumn/winter 2022 collection for Louis Vuitton.

His posthumous final menswear show was set in an elaborate " Louis Dreamhouse" concept with angels, breakdancing models and a disregard for gender in the designs.

"I don't believe in gender, I believe in design," Abloh was quoted as saying in the show notes.

Furniture sprung out of the floors, beds spun around, and the Chineke! Orchestra – a highly diverse ensemble – performed an original soundtrack by Tyler, the Creator around a banqueting table. 

The “Louis Dreamhouse” encompassed a lot of the themes and messages at the heart of his eight-collection arc for Louis Vuitton. Childlike and surreal, it was about imagination: having and encouraging the imagination to become someone great, do remarkable things, and make the world a better place. Virgil believed we should see the world through the unfazed eyes of a child to whom anything seems possible.

The fashion show concept is said to have been inspired by the traditional coming-of-age narrative, a concept close to Abloh’s heart as the ultimate supporter of emerging talent.

Abloh often said that everything he did was for his 17-year-old self. An age at which a person straddles boyhood and adulthood, where naivety and curiosity have not yet been dampened by real life woes, and where one can still feel the future at their fingertips. 

On the runway, that translates to clothing which transcends genre, mixing tailoring with sportswear, and streetwear with bridalwear.

There were cape-like tracksuits, fuzzy bags, billowing scarf shirts, svelte, sequined suits, and varsity jackets plastered in cartoonish motifs. Velour tracksuits were transformed into techy jackets, as male models became brides in veiled snapbacks and billowing tulle skirts.

Virgil also imbued the collection with hints to what was going through his mind before he lost his battle to a very rare and aggressive form of cancer. Sportswear and strong silhouettes nodded at the Olympics: superhumans, who try to surpass physical possibilities. Graphics on garments included imagery of supernatural and spiritual forces – time, magic, creation – but drawn like cartoons. There were wizards, animals, cherubs, clouds, climbing holds on sky-blue bags, and animations of the Grim Reaper. At the end, two models emerged as arch angels with massive wings on their backs structured like kites. The grim reaper loomed in the background however, as badges with his image were tacked onto garments and models stalked the area in menacing plague masks. The juxtaposition of hope and loss was all too obvious. 

The tribute closed with a particularly moving voice-note from the man himself and played atop sombre strings: ​“Life is so short that you can’t even waste a day subscribing to what someone thinks you can do, versus what you can do.”

Perhaps his greatest legacy was his fervent belief in fostering young talent. In an Instagram post he made after his 2018 debut show, which has been widely shared after the news of his death, Abloh is shown taking his final bow on an acid yellow runway (a reference to that magical childhood road to a fantasy land, the yellow brick road), back turned to the camera. The caption is ​“you can do it too…” 

At the end of the show as soon as the models stopped walking, fireworks erupted, followed by a d light display that spelt out ​“Virgil was here” across the dark sky.