JACQUEMUS
SIMON PORTE JACQUEMUS
VIRGIL ABLOH
FOR S/S19, ABLOH (ABOVE)
DESIGNED QUILTED JACKETS
IN MOSSY GREENS AS WELL
AS ACCESSORIES SPORTING
THE LV MONOGRAMA cultural agitator with a civil engineering degree from
the University of Wisconsin and an MA in architecture
from the Illinois Institute of Technology, Abloh heralds
a much-needed shift to fashion’s established order,
joining Balmain’s Olivier Rousteing as the only other
black artistic director of a major luxury house today.
After working as creative director for Kanye West, Abloh
founded the bestselling streetwear label Off-White in- Reviews of his Louis Vuitton debut trilled with
excitement about this new voice in Paris. The collection
riffed confidently on the house’s luggage legacy as
shapes from its iconic leather goods were translated
into box pockets on cotton shirting. Standout pieces
featured embroidered scenes from The Wizard of Oz,
echoing Abloh’s wonderment at his own journey.
The musician Dev Hynes, actor Kid Cudi and painter
Lucien Smith walked the show alongside a diverse cast.
On each seat lining the rainbow catwalk was a map of
the world with dots pinpointing the birthplace of each
model and their parents. Titled ‘We Are The World’,
it offered ‘a global view on diversity linked to the
travel DNA of the brand’, Abloh wrote on Instagram.
A thousand design students stood excitedly in the
audience, wearing specially created T-shirts marking
the event. ‘Like some kids today, I started the surreal
mission without “fashion school” but [with] a blank
T-shirt, a screenprinted idea for it and a dream,’ Abloh
added. Follow the yellow brick road.
louisvuitton.com
LOUIS VUITTON
Like Abloh, Simon Porte Jacquemus has no formal
fashion training. Born in the south of France, he moved
to Paris to study at the École Supérieure des Arts et
Techniques de la Mode, but left four weeks later after
the sudden death of his mother. In 2009, aged just 19,
he launched a ready-to-wear brand named after her
(Jacquemus being her maiden name), which he funded
by working at the Comme des Garçons store in Paris. In
2015, he won the LVMH Special Prize for his surreal take
on French classics; his women are sexy, confident, fun.
At the start of the year he teased his 500,000-plus
Instagram followers with #NewJob, revealing in
February that he would be creating his own menswear.
Would the clothes be as daring as his women’s offering?
The defining image of the Jacquemus man was set
in a photograph the designer uploaded to Instagram
in May of the French rugby player Yoann Maestri. Porte
Jacquemus had shot him post-swim, gambolling on the
rocks by a sparkling sea with his dog, wearing a pair of
fresh white shorts. The collection of cotton tracksuits,
summer wool ribbed knits, V-neck tank tops, tiny
trunks, cargo pants and knowingly crass floral-printed
shirts evoke the sensuality and spirit of Mediterranean
men. As he wrote in his show notes, ‘I grew up here,
surrounded by black suits worn on unbuttoned polka-
dot shirts. Barefoot, bare chest, strong perfume. I grew
up here, in the Mediterranean. My Mediterranean.’
jacquemus.comPORTE JACQUEMUS
(ABOVE) BROUGHT
MEDITERRANEAN SWAGGER
TO HIS FIRST MENSWEAR
COLLECTION, FOR S/S19,
WITH PLUNGING NECKLINES
AND BOLD JEWELLERYIntelligence
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