RECAP: Virgil Abloh First Louis Vuitton Fashion Show as Creative Director

Virgil Abloh has taken the next big step in his ascent of the fashion industry, as he showed his first collection for Louis Vuittonat Paris fashion week.

In the afternoon heat of the Palais-Royale gardens on Thursday, the American designer introduced his take on Vuitton, starting with a new lexicon.

“The biggest goal for a first collection in any scenario is to start so that people can understand the new vocabulary,” he wrote on Instagram before the show, at which each attendee was left a dictionary on their seats, or “a liberal definition of terms and explanation of ideas”, as he put it.

It started with “accessomorphosis”, which he said was as a portmanteau describing the transformation of an accessory into a garment. This formed the basis of the 56-look collection he called Colour Theory. A double-breasted wool-mohair blazer fused with a white leather bib, complete with a pencil-case pouch; a leather vest, embossed with the fashion house’s signature monogram, had protruding structured pockets; and anoraks were cut away at the back to make way for an attached bum bag.

Louis Vuitton is, of course, famed for accessories. Abloh took signature bag silhouettes such as the large Keepall, the Runner and the Petit-Malle (a miniature version of the transatlantic trunks with which the house made its name in the 1800s) and reimagined them – some in red, green and iridescent plastic, others in matte leather with the traditional hardware detailing. Hanging off each were multicoloured ceramic chains, which also were used as bracelets and necklaces, while creeper ankle boots and vintage suede sneakers completed the look.

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Reimagining is what Abloh is all about. The American designer’s appointment as Louis Vuitton’s artistic director in March was the culmination of his rise over the past three years and makes him the first designer of colour to hold such a high-profile position.

Some notable celebrities that attend Virgil first Louis Vuitton fashion show was Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, Rihanna, Kylie Jenner, and Bella Hadid.

The most emotional apart about the fashion show is when Virgil hugged Kanye while he was down the carpet. The two had a little collision course in their brotherhood. At the end of the day nobody wins when the family feuds.