Get ready for an English lesson as we dive into a lexicon of Virgil’s streetwear-meet-luxury-French-heritage terms.
We said we’ll be watching out for his debut collection when Virgil Abloh was first appointed as Louis Vuitton’s new men’s creative director. Now that it’s out, we have been given a glossary of terms with which to anatomise his Spring Summer 2019 collection – straight from the horse’s mouth.
Get ready for an English lesson as we dive into a lexicon of Virgil’s streetwear-meet-luxury-French-heritage terms.
Prologue: A reintroduction of nomenclatures
3%: The exact ratio needed to twist a normative object into something special.
(See more on this in chapter 2)
Louis Vuitton: Parisian purveyor of leather goods founded in 1854. Defined by its Monogram, the House invented logomania. Its brand value retains unparalleled standing across cultures and classes.
Luxury: A label determined by values, codes and qualities, its use and definition were the privilege of few until a new generation conquered its dominion and shifted the paradigm for good.
Margielaism: A term applied to garments or accessories which reflect the normative fashion religion of a reverent generation of young or younger designers to which Virgil Abloh belongs.
Millennial : A term applied to consumers born between the late 1980s and 1990s, often linked to markets associated with Virgil Abloh, a non-millennial designer with millennial sensibilities.
See also: How brands are speaking to millennials who don’t care for ads
Normcore: The irony of a generation raised on extravagance, and the make-do and mend sensibility of those with access to it.
Rationale: The underlying method to the Spring-Summer 2019 collection, looks are generally designed and styled employing the construction of a top layer, a bottom layer, a mid-layer and an outer layer.
Streetwear: A predictable clothing genre in a renegade designer’s debut collection as part of the fashion establishment, but one whose sportswear properties are undergoing a critical transformation into luxury.
Styling: Once simply the addendum to a designer’s collection, it now serves as a contemporary fashion tool offered by a designer to the public as an initiation of ideas and ultimate self-expression.
Chapter 1: The set
Oz: A fantasy land visited by country girl Dorothy in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. Upon arrival after a cyclone transports her there, she tells her dog, “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.”
(Note: The set comprised a rainbow runway inspired by the film’s whimsical tale, mimicked also in the colourful collection featuring Yellow Brick Road-esque prints.)
Soundtrack: An inherent musical juxtaposition staged between a psychedelic jazz intro by BADBADNOTGOOD, which crescendos into I Thought About Killing You by Kanye West.
Chapter 2: The collection
(swipe left on the gallery above for the 101)
Chapter 3: The crowd
Kanye West: A mentor and friend to Virgil Abloh.
(And a real brother, if we might add, judging by their emotional embrace at the end of show.)
Model: A person identified by the anatomical, racial, and cosmetic features of his appearance. Or, by his artistry, individuality and personality.
(Virgil’s celebrity friends were among the host of models to walk the runway, including Kid Cudi, Playboi Carti, Steve Lacy, Theophilus London, Dev Hynes, A$AP Nast, Octavian, painter Lucien Smith, artist Blondey McCoy, and pro skater Lucien Clarke.)
Production: A metaphor for finding drama in subtlety, the Spring Summer 2019 audience of three thousand people is formed by the fashion industry and specially invited students. It creates an atmosphere representative of the dual demographic which will be wearing the collection at hand. Set in the gardens framed by the galleries of the Palais-Royal, sand is rendered like a rainbow while selected guests wear corresponding T-shirts, effectively activating the show through attendance.
Epilogue (Read: Random words for the truest Virgil fan)
Disc jockey: “I like loud music”
Irony: The philosophy of a new generation. The presence of Virgil Abloh at Louis Vuitton.
Long-windedness: “A blessing and a curse”
Motto: “Good style is always off-putting”
Silhouette: “Revert against stiff and formal. Look as comfortable as you feel.”
Z: “If you’ve made it this far, thank you for your time.”
Images: Courtesy of Louis Vuitton