28 nNovember 2021: a date that will go down in history. Virgil Abloh’s death, aged just 41, he left the fashion world in a daze. Just under two months after his death, “his” Louis Vuitton decides to pay homage once again. After the tribute show of the latest menswear collection Spring Summer 2022 signed by the creative, presented in Miami on December 1, 2021, today the fashion house pays tribute to the artistic director of the men’s collections with a special equipment in the windows and in the courtyard of the shop in via Montanapoleone in Milan.
The free installation in a boutique in Milan
The message? Always the same: Virgil was here, the one that materialized in the air in Florida after the moving show. Created thanks to a myriad of red lights from drones, to form a paper plane that whizzes into the unknown to compose the memorable sentence. Today, one maxi sculpture in the shape of a toy airplane lands in the garden of the Milanese store starting January 13, just on the occasion of the stopover of the preview collection.
The paper airplane, to fly with your imagination
A recurring symbol, that of the origami-style paper plane, very dear to Abloh even when he was still alive. He himself ironically defined the object as “a miniature imitation of an airplane invented by the Wright brothers in 1903“. One of those pieces Un-designed, that is, devoid of artistic property. And above all, infinitely replicable. A bit like the Amen Break, the Winstons’ 1969 drum solo, the chorus that is repeated in an endless loop and takes shape in the pieces of the collection.
An image reminiscent of childhood, capable of making the imagination fly high: the sculpture stands on a mirrored platform and is decorated with the motif of the clouds, a further reference to the work of Abloh for Louis Vuitton (in particular, to the Menswear Fall Winter 2020/2021 collection). Thus, the utopian idea of a Paradise on Earth materializes in Milan, in memory of the fervent creativity of the designer, who loved to look at the world with the eyes of a child.
From the courtyard, to the shop windows, to the interiors
The windows and the interiors instead they play with the chess symbols, one of the key themes of the Louis Vuitton Spring Summer 2022 collection. A game, this time, of society, which sees participants of all ages, with every creed and culture: different men but all equally pawns of human existence. Obviously, the reference can still be found in the codes of the collection: the checkerboard graphics are the protagonists not only in the iconic motif Damier, but also in the textures, in the three-dimensional effects and in studied trompe l’oeil on garments and accessories. In the checkered background recreated in the shop windows, i mannequins, faithful 3D reproductions of the models of the show, interact with bishops, pawns, towers, horses, kings and queens in a maxi version, all played in shades of white and black.
One of the windows of the Milan store set up as a tribute to Virgil Abloh for the arrival of the Spring Summer 2022 men’s collection, the latest by the designer (Photo: PR).
The statuary models in the shop window
Everything is magnified, maximized, to remind us of the loss of a great personality. The tribute ends at ground floor of the Louis Vuitton store in Montenapoleone: between two stone columns, a third installation dominates a black & white checkered platform. The protagonist, the Leonardo model, who walked the runway with the look n ° 9 of the Spring Summer 2022 line, recreated in a statuesque version while playing a game of chess against himself. Baseball cap, pleated skirt and thoughtful expression: at its side, a tower dominates the scene. The exhibition continues on the floor dedicated to men’s collections, where the latest collection by Virgil Abloh for Louis Vuitton materializes in all its reality: clothing, footwear, accessories and leather goods.
The interior of the Milan store set up as a tribute to Virgil Abloh for the arrival of the Spring Summer 2022 men’s collection, the latest by the designer (Photo: PR).
Soon also in Rinascente
And the Italian homage signed by the Maison at the head of LVMH towards Virgil Abloh does not end here. Starting January 20 the space of Milan Rinascente dedicated to the Maison’s men’s collections, it will host another engaging and immersive itinerary inspired by the central themes of the collection’s aesthetics. Alive, like his legacy.
iO Donna © REPRODUCTION RESERVED