Paris Men's Week: Louis Vuitton: Deducting the New Oz

Virgil Abloh is good at putting his eyes on the long term. He believes that he can win the game with stability. "When one thing has been done for a long time, your next slow movement will have a gravitational pull," he said in the studio of Louis Vuitton. "I do everything in a parallel orbit, slow and steady. Look at everything and build up."

So what happens next, according to Virgil: "My term at Louis Vuitton will be a study of the different stages of becoming a man." He claims that when he realized that the series was about adolescence, he After the LV debut, he had a moment of a flash of light. Perhaps "The Wizard of Oz" is a fable about adolescence. seasonal changes. Abloh's second series (he called it the second part) was upgraded from The Wizard of Oz to The New Wizard of Oz. The film by Quincy Jones is the end of the Black Renaissance era, starred by Diana Ross, and Michael Jackson plays the Scarecrow...

Ah, yes, MJ. Abloh insists that he even thought of "The New Wizard of Oz" before he even contacted MJ. However, in his Louis Vuitton journey, through a man's seven stages, what more provocative focus than this boy who changed the world? Abloh called him "the ultimate muse", "We watched him grow up, but he has always been a child." In his elaborate presentation of the conference (I must say that this is a very good reading), he talks To Jackson's extraordinary power, “Every jacket, gloves, socks and hats have been shaped into an awesome tool.” Which fashion designer would not sell his soul to the devil for this power? ?

But Abloh is a hardworking student. “I haven’t calculated anything in my work for a while,” he insisted, but his second show for Louis Vuitton was well thought out. Constructed layer by layer with the shameless techniques unique to the greatest performers (by the way, the best-selling album of the year). The set reproduces the background of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean," and at the end, Dev Hynes is playing with the guitar while walking on the slate of the light. A young dancer, wearing purple all over the body, jumped on the same street, stopped, looked at the sky for a while, and then continued, the boy caught the dream. The live band played "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin."

Alboh also dreams. It was the luxurious craftsmanship of Louis Vuitton's studio that made him extraordinary, like Michael Jackson wearing gloves and white socks. A plaid shirt full of crystals? "Raindrops," Abloh said of them. A large number of crystals, such as the Milky Way, are luxuriously set in the jackets on display. Louis Vuitton's classic monogram pattern is cleverly printed on cashmere twill. Perhaps the ancient Egyptian pleated skirt worn by MJ in the "Remember Time" MV inspired this long, smooth pleated skirt. It’s definitely the song “We Are The World” that inspired him, with intarsia leather banner collage and houndstooth pattern – actually a million continents in Africa (the lyrics of the song are printed on the shirt) .

These passionate ideas really make the whole series shine, although you can easily feel that Abloh's heart is not here. "I may belong to the street, but tailoring is the story I want to tell. I want my young supporters to get out of the world of sneakers." Baby, don't do this at the price of Louis Vuitton. However, there are many less lofty aspirations in the world. The yellow brick road has always been the most desirable end point in American mythology. Michael Jackson sang and danced to Oz. Virgil Abloh is taking the fashion route.