Less than a month following Virgil Abloh's death, Louis Vuitton has unveiled the late artistic directors final Pre-Fall 2022 collection for the house – one of his final collections which was completed and photographed just before he died.
His legacy continues to live on, with the Pre-Fall 2022 range arriving ahead of his Fall 2022 collection, which will be shown at Paris Fashion Week Men’s in January, another no doubt emotional moment for the fashion industry as was his Miami tribute earlier this month. According to WWD, the Fall 2022 show will be Abloh's final show as the designs were 95% complete by the time he died.
The Louis Vuitton Men's Pre-Fall 2022 collection is reportedly inspired by Abloh's "boyhood ideology", and themes he explored throughout his career. “What makes menswear? Boys do. I believe that building blocks stacked upon each other through our lives form the narrative of what defines menswear,” he wrote in the press notes. “My work today bears evidence of everything that happened to me in my past: how I was brought up, educated, and how I evolved.”
The collection begins with muted grey tailoring accented by Virgil-esque pops of neon yellow and cornflower blue, while genres of clothing traditionally labelled as ‘formalwear’, ‘workwear’, or ‘streetwear’ cross-pollinate to create varied silhouettes.
Suiting interprets grown-up codes through relaxed cuts and light materials. Three piece suits adopt a new meaning, with wrap skirts replacing waistcoats and utility jackets fill in for blazers. Denim suits feature alongside bright purple and grey tracksuits. The fashion house’s Damier check appears alongside a colourful print of a mountain range. Dégradé adds teenage spirit to knitwear, and to stripes in suiting evoking those which used to line the Maison’s trunks.
Heavy colour blocked chains hang off belt loops in orange, green and grey. Sportswear is elevated and applied to tailoring, graphics are brought into a professional wardrobe with grey jacquard suits fading from the Damier pattern into miniature LV logos, while graffiti imagery developed by Ghusto Leon gives way to ideas of youth culture and is applied to veils that attach to hats and caps, the silhouettes of each borrowed from beekeeping.
The essence of boyhood is translated through these silhouettes: baggy low slung jeans, graffiti motifs on caps and jackets, chunky chains swinging off belt loops with Abloh's skate-inspired sneakers outfitted to complete the looks. It is playful and joyful in a way that Abloh has always delivered, expertly walking the line between luxury demand and accessible themes, reflected back from his upbringing and creative process.
See the full collection below.
