Enter Virgil Abloh’s Inner World With Louis Vuitton Menswear SS22
The Amen Break is characteristic of a discourse central to the work of Virgil Abloh. For Louis Vuitton Spring-Summer 2022, the Men’s Artistic Director zooms in and out on archetypes and subcultures known to us all, highlighting at once their cultural context and collective re-contextualisation. A chapter in the Black Canon’s preservation and teaching of Black art history on par with that of Europe, the Amen Break exemplifies the arts’ instinct to sample and resample a core design. Applied to fashion, where the staples of suits, tracksuits, shirts and t-shirts are re-interpreted on a never-ending loop, the Amen Break becomes a metaphor for the myth of ownership in contemporary creativity.
Some of the subcultures, influences and symbols referenced throughout the collection include rave, martial arts, tracksuits, Nike Air Force 1s, chess, artist Jim Joe (who collaborates on bags and RTW) and Goldie’s record label Metalheadz. The looks in the collection include fluffy jackets, voluminous skirts, balaclavas, ski boots, windbreakers, suits emblazoned with jigsaw pieces and landscapes and hats galore, be they berets or top hats. Abloh’s vision for this season is bold and iconoclastic, as always, pulling from disparate source of inspiration and sewing them together in unexpected ways.
The Louis Vuitton Spring-Summer 2022 Men’s Collection by Virgil Abloh is captured in the film Amen Break, featuring GZA, Goldie Saul Williams, Issa Perica, Caleb Femi, Jim Joe, Kandis Williams, Thelma Buabeng, Octavia Burgel, Lupe Fiasco, Julian Eugene Tsukasa Williams, Damian Eugene Nagisa Williams, Shabaka Hutchings and Malik Le Nost, alongside a broad cast of talent. Directed by Mahfuz Sultan, the film explores ideas of transmission: the act of passing of something from person to another, activating waves of change across generations, and impacting the lives of others.
Check out some of our favourite looks from the collection below.
