PARIS – “Question everything in doubt.”
Those words, written in block letters, were a motto for Virgil Abloh, the groundbreaking designer, artist, DJ, furniture maker and conversationalist; founder of Off-White and artistic director of Louis Vuitton menswear; a man who once described himself as a “cultural Robin Hood – stealing from the snobs and giving it back to a few kids”; who died unexpectedly in November at the age of 41.
Those words formed the core of his first retrospective, Figures of Speech, held at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago in 2019. And they were born on a waving flag Monday, the first day of Paris Fashion Week, in the latest Off-White show Mr. Abloh conceived before his death.
What in itself was both a retrospective – a tour of the fundamental “codes” (as a voiceover called them) he set up for the brand, and an argument for their ability to further promote it – and a leap in the future, with a new high fashion collection and beauty line.
After all, Mr. Abloh meant those words not just as words to remember, but to live by: Yes, why can’t a brand survive even as its founder, a man whom many considered not alone in his heart and mind. considered, but also in its personification, is gone? And who says that a man who started creating a wearable dialogue between streetwear and ready-to-wear shouldn’t also try couture?
Therefore, the event was not announced as a memorial, but as a celebration. And despite the gloom of the global situation, it was.
Rihanna and ASAP Rocky were there. So was Pharrell Williams. Carla Bruni, the former first lady of France. Idris Elba. Balmain’s designers Olivier Rousteing, Loewe’s Jonathan Anderson and Supreme’s Tremaine Emory. Michael Burke, the chief executive of Louis Vuitton, and José Neves, chief executive of Farfetch, which owns New Guards Group, the Italian manufacturer that helped create and nurture Off-White.
All seated on chairs along the perimeter of a large white room, with a giant crystal chandelier and an equally elaborate amplifier arrangement in the center, watching a parade of Abloh-isms: looks for both men and women born of different traditions in animated conversation with each other. Black sweaters and bodycon dresses came with asteroid-shaped cutouts; mohair harnesses tailored suit; slouchy leather cargos were adorned with perfectly geometric patch pockets.
Thong straps were pulled up and over the hipbones under micro miniskirts. Jacquard is made with a graffiti print. There were giant fuzzy backpacks and big chunky-heeled alpine boots with appliquéd pot leaves. Quoted sentences. At one point, Serena Williams strolled out in a stretch-net dress over a tie-dyed bodysuit.
Oh hello, Serena.
Later, for the haute (“haute”) section, seemingly every supermodel under the sun did. Kendall Jenner wore a sequined black little black dress with the words “little black dress” on the side (a simpler version of which appeared in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s “Camp” exhibit in 2019). Cindy Crawford, an extravagant layered tulle pleated skirt under a cropped tuxedo jacket and T-shirt, with a see-through handbag full of pills. Naomi Campbell, swishy turquoise crushed velvet pants under a long evening coat with a matching top hat and the word “respectfully” on the back. There was also a crystal embroidered bustier with the universal ‘no’ sign on the front along with the word ‘Snitchin’.’
In other words, it was pretty convincing proof that the foundation Mr. Abloh had laid was solid. That if he was ever the epitome of the brand, he could also serve as a pole star.
And while – like the central flag itself – he may have started by quoting almost everything and every designer, in the end his words and his work are all quotable on their own.
