LVMH Maisons go all digital for Men’s Spring/Summer 2021 shows during Paris Fashion Week
Fashion & Leather Goods
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© Louis Vuitton
Paris Fashion Week Men’s Spring/Summer 2021 went all digital in the Covid-19 context. LVMH fashion houses rethought the presentations of their ready-to-wear collections as runway events were replaced by novel online shows. Close-up on Berluti, Louis Vuitton, Dior and Loewe.
Berluti
An avid ceramics collector, Berluti Creative Director Kris Van Assche decided to bring together his passion with Berluti’s famous bootmaking expertise. For the Spring-Summer 2021 menswear collection, he collaborated with ceramic artist Brian Rochefort to create pieces where the artist’s exuberant signature blends with the luxuriant textures favored by the Belgian designer. Berluti previewed the collection in a video featuring a compelling look behind the scenes as the two creative talents discuss the way they work together in a digital world, with Kris Van Assche in Paris and Brian Rochefort in Los Angeles.
This new collection whets the curiosity of Berluti aficionados as Kris Van Assche takes a familiar aesthetic and transports it with a new proposal, taking sartorial creations into unexplored territory.
Louis Vuitton
The story of the new collection by Louis Vuitton Men’s Artistic Director Virgil Abloh is recounted in an animated film in which characters arrive in Paris during Fashion Week. The cartoon-inspired crew explores the streets of the French capital, Louis Vuitton ateliers in Asnières and the Maison’s headquarters on rue du Pont Neuf. The childlike style illustrates Virgil Abloh’s desire to picture the world through the eyes of a child, innocent and unspoiled by prejudice.
After sharing their joie de vivre, the characters leave Paris aboard a barge sailing down the Seine. Far from the end of the story, this voyage announces the beginning of the Men’s Spring-Summer 2021 collection conceived by Virgil Abloh. To forge connections across places and cultures, a series of events will take place until the end of 2020 to present the American designer’s latest creations. After Paris, the characters in the film will disembark in Shanghai for a presentation of the collection before heading to Tokyo for the next chapter in the adventure.
Sustainability is central to this season thanks to upcycling initiatives: using surplus materials from previous collections, or reusing previous ideas and pieces. Virgil Abloh’s stated objective is to transcend the notion of seasonality in fashion and the ways in which clothes are produced. Previous collections no longer go out of fashion after a few months but unify into canons that are reinterpreted and revisited season after season, without sacrificing creativity.
Loewe
For the SS21 menswear collection from the Spanish Maison, Loewe Creative Director Jonathan Anderson took an innovative approach to reproduce the effervescence and enthusiasm that define fashion shows, even if they cannot be presented on a runway. The presentation came in a highly original archive box sent to friends of the Maison. The Loewe Show-in-a-Box creates a very real moment in time and space, well beyond the virtual realm. Key looks are presented in 3D views, along with inspirations for the collection that can be taken out and physically experienced. The box also includes the color palette and samples of fabric used in the new collection.
The Loewe Spring-Summer 2021 collection was progressively unveiled online, accompanied by additional content to explore deeper into the creative intentions. A video on the Art of Shibori details the Japanese textile dyeing technique that inspired several of the pieces.
The collection itself was presented in sober fashion on wooden mannequins. All about curves and fluidity, the clothes designed by Jonathan Anderson evoke movement. Layered volumes and textures showcase Loewe’s ongoing celebration of craft and accentuate the circular movement.
Dior
The Dior Men’s Spring-Summer 2021 collection by Kim Jones pays tribute to Ghanaian artist Amoako Boafo. Africa has been a rich source of inspiration for the couture house for many years, as well as for the Maison’s Artistic Director, who spent his childhood in Botswana, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Kenya and Ghana. Amoako Boafo’s famous Black Diaspora portraits are an exploration of his own identity and his perceptions of black identity, specifically black masculinity. Expressing a cultural fusion, his works are transported on clothes imbued with haute couture techniques and history. Each piece in the collection is a collaboration and a dialogue between the two worlds. Amoako Boafo’s saturated colors meet Dior moiré fabric on sporty pieces with the impeccable cut of a couture house. Surfaces are intricately realized, printed and layered. Ribbed knits incorporating jacquard patterns evoke a painted canvas. And embroideries, knitwear and intarsia literally translate works by Boafo to the wearer’s body.
The new Dior Spring-Summer 2021 menswear collection was unveiled in a two-part film. The first part was edited and soundtracked by video artist Chris Cunningham with images shot in London and at Amoako Boafo’s studio in Ghana, while the second part featuring Kim Jones’ creations was directed by Jackie Nickerson.