For his third runway show for the house of Louis Vuitton, Virgil Abloh produced an inventive, clever, experimental and even elegiac collection staged with aplomb in the charming Place Dauphine on the Île de la Cité on the Seine.
A cast of frequently fresh faces marched down the cobblestone streets of the triangular square, many with huge bunches of flowers sprouting from several smart new bags, notably a triangular weekender in a bright green Daumier design. Instead of the square’s usual gang of elderly, pastis-drinking boule players, hundreds of fans in standing room. Outside, thousands more frenzied youths failed to hustle past the vigilant security. Abloh is fashion’s hottest ticket these days. Virgil showed massive billowing pants with oversized jackets in Provençal shades of lilac and rose; lavender trenches in uber plissé wool; and composed marvelous broad-shouldered double-breasted jackets in the same colors as the coble-stones of the square. Several cast members wore garlands of real and fabric flowers. Many had farmers straw hats, finished with mountaineer’s rope. The mood was bucolic yet posh.
Last season, however, Virgil Abloh got lambasted on social media for allegedly borrowing ideas from certain indie designers for his menswear show for Louis Vuitton.
