Louis Vuitton and the angels of Abloh

A fashion show-exhibition. Set in a surreal universe tinged with sky blue. Among smoking chimneys, giant beds, endless stairs in the Escher manner and a dreamlike music, entrusted to the Chineke! Orchestra, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, called to interpret live the composition of notes imagined by Tyler, The Creator. In between artists and performers, acrobats and dancers. To stage a show that is the last tribute of Louis Vuitton to the genius of Virgil Abloh, the designer who died last December and soul of the menswear of the flagship brand of Lvmh.

Not only a seasonal collection. Because number 8, imagined by the American designer before his death, is an encyclopedia of style. Of his style. Because what he called «Louis Dreamhouse» is a journey through his aesthetic universe. A sort of stylistic legacy marked by 67 fall-winter 2002/23 releases. A symphony that alternates citations to the art of Giorgio de Chirico and surrealism, tailoring inspired by the rules of no-gender, references to a certain remastered formalwear, a tribute to American college sportswear, remastered and rewritten by choosing a clash between real agonism and pop-cartoon culture à la Grim Reaper. And then there are wallpaper and toile de jouy florals, LV monograms in profusion and hints of urban subcultures, imprimés of foliage and references to the paintings of Gustave Coubert.

But also accessories that shout their being protagonists. First and foremost the bags: briefcases distorted as in a loose painting by Salvador Dalì, Speedy where three-dimensional buds bloom, painter's buckets and bouquets that become bags, but also trunks that turn into radios with primitive horns. And then collectible sneakers and hats in animal shapes. Great space is given to the idea of upcycling, which becomes a true ideology in the thought of Virgil Abloh, thanks to three different approaches marked by the reuse of overstock materials, ideas or themes explored in previous collections of the designer. The grand finale plays between poetry and emotion: under the glazed roof of the Carreau du temple the dreary Parisian sky suddenly rips open and the rays of the sun dive on a parade of angels. Dressed in total white suits, their heads are veiled or they wear monumental lace wings, kites of immaculate cloth. They remain motionless to populate the large setting while the guys from Abloh's creative team, surrounded by emotion, come out to collect the standing ovation of the audience, led by Bernard Arnault.

Judgment. «We are a generation in search of what rules can be subverted. Or which ones are the truest to preserve». Perhaps this phrase by Virgil Abloh is the real legacy linked to his creative adventure in Louis Vuitton's men's division. His has been a true aesthetic revolution that has changed the contemporary male lexicon. And the stylistic encyclopedia shown yesterday is an important testament of courage and passion, of nonconformity and creativity. A powerful message distilled into eight collections that have written an important chapter in the history of the fashion house but, above all, in the history of fashion. The future? It's not the time to talk about it yet, as Michael Burke, ceo of Vuitton, made clear in a recent interview, blocking any kind of rumors. In the eyes, moved, there is a present that pays tribute to a unique designer, born in Rockford, Illinois, and entered by right into the myth. (all rights reserved)