Models On Ice: A Look At Louis Vuitton's Theatrical Fall/Winter 2021 Men's Show
Virgil Abloh staged his Fall/Winter 2021 Men's runway show for Louis Vuitton in two scenes.
First, a wintery wonderland with a God-like voice narrating scenic views of a mountainscape. Abloh's protagonist for the season? A lone man (the singer/songwriter Saul Williams) with a silver trunk in search of purity. Suddenly, the location changes, and a troupe of models in perfect synchronicity ice-skate into a new set: a modernist scene at Tennis Club de Paris today in Paris. The juxtaposition of the two was apparently influenced by James Baldwin’s essay Stranger in the Village from 1953, which parallels between the writer's experiences as an African-American man in a Swiss village and his life in America.
Beside a plethora of leather-covered chairs by Mies van der Rohe—often a reference for the Off-White founder—and '70s green marble walls, Williams opened the runway show in his frozen tundra outfit, a black overcoat decorated by plane-buttons and what appears to be a passport peeking out of his pocket. The rest of the collection that followed seemed to continue this desire for escape, likely the result of a year spent in confinement as well as a nod to the house's travel history.
Throughout the collection more models showed up in sharp-fitted suits and smart, tech-made sportswear. Later, a pure forest green was introduced as a key-colour story, decorating '70s-esque leather bags, chunky knits, and varsity-style jackets as well as bandanas and durags. Technicolour and monogram-coloured plaid and clear-coating made cameos, too. In addition to LV leather goods, outfits were accessorised with objects of travel and tourism, from crunched-up coffee cups to half-read newspapers, while one spectacular jumper was dotted with landmark buildings from Paris and another from New York.
The show, most accurately described as a series of performances within a performance, concluded with a number by Yasiin Bey, known previously as Mos Def.
Check out the entire show below:
