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henLouis Vuittonunveiledits latest
menswearcollection,fashionfeltnor-
malforthefirsttimeinmonths:Models
walkedtherunwayinfrontofa chicaudi-
ence,attendeescooledoffwithpaperfansinbetweenairkisses,
andasurprisegueststar—LaurynHill—serenadedthecrowd.
Well,almostnormal.TheshowwasheldinAugust,weeks
beforethestandardtimefornextyear’sspring-summercol-
lection.It wasalsoinShanghai,thousandsofmilesfromParis,
thetypicallocation.VirgilAbloh,thedesigner,couldn’tmake
it tohisownshowbecauseoftravelrestrictionsbetweenthe
U.S.andChina.
“Whatwe’velearnedthroughthisyearis thatthere’ssubtle
thingsthatneedtochangeabouthowweinterfacewiththe
customerandinterfacewiththeworld,”Ablohsaysa week
aftertheshowfromhishomeoutsideChicago,wherehe’s
spentthepastseveralmonthsrunninghiscreativeteamsin
ParisandMilan.
Thesedays,Abloh’sdesignsareinescapable.Hehasa reg-
ularparadeofcollaborations,suchasa Februarycollectionof
wood-cappedwaterbottleswithEvianand,throughhislabel
Off-White,anupcomingpairofzigzag-lacedwhiteNikeDunk
Lowsneakers.He’salsoworkingwithMercedes-BenzAGto
reinterprettheautomaker’sG-ClassluxurySUV.
Ablohhasalwaysbeena busyguy,andthelockdownver-
sionofhimisn’tmuchdifferent.Beforeourinterview,he’djust
spokenwithMarcJacobs,hispredecessorasLouisVuitton’s
headmensweardesigneranda mentorhecanbankonto
spark,asheputsit,explosivecreativity.
Nonetheless,thissummerhasbeena rollercoasterfor
Abloh.He’sbeenexpandinghisOff-Whitebusiness,notto
mentionholdingdownhisdutiesatLouisVuitton,whilethe
economicfalloutwroughtbythecoronaviruspandemichas
devastatedthefashionindustryandgovernment-mandated
shutdownskeptstoresaroundtheworldclosedformonths.
The$380billion luxury goods sector could see sales fall as
much as 45% this year and not fully recover until 2023, accord-
ing to an analysis by Boston Consulting Group.Severalhouseholdnameshavegonebankrupt,including
Brooks Brothers, J.Crew, and Neiman Marcus. LVMH, the par-
ent company of Louis Vuitton as well as Céline, Christian Dior,
Givenchy, Loro Piana, and others, saw a 38% drop in revenue
last quarter, from roughly €12.5 billion in the second quarter
of 2019 to less than €8 billion over the same period in 2020.
It expects Covid-19 to stifle sales and earnings for some time.
“We can but hope that the recovery will occur gradually,”
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bernard Arnault told
investors in June.
Thesummerproteststhathaveroiledthenationfollow-
ingthepolicekillingofGeorgeFloydhavealsopresented
challenges.WhenAblohsaidhewasdisgustedbythelooting
of two Los Angeles luxury shops, the backlash on social media
was swift and predictable.
Abloh says the criticism doesn’t bother him. “It moti-
vates me,” he says. “It shows me that there’s room to grow.”
HeapologizedonhisInstagramaccount(andTwitter)and
announcedthecreationofa scholarshipfundforBlack
studentsthat’sfocusedoncareerdevelopmentforthose
enteringthefashionindustry.
ThePost-ModernScholarshipFundraised$1million upon
its inception, financed by Louis Vuitton, Farfetch, Evian, and
Abloh’s own money. He says he’s entering a new phase of his
career, one that gives all his fashion projects a greater purpose.
“What’s next for me is eradicating systemic racism,” he says.
“I’m taking on the task of raising Black voices, and that to me
is a new chapter of my career.”
Abloh considers himself an optimist, and the joyful clothes
he showed in Shanghai were a marked contrast from the grief
that other designers have displayed in 2020. (In Alessandro
Michele’s fall show for Gucci, the models’ mascara was applied
in a way that made it look like they’d been crying.)
Another pleasant surprise from the Louis Vuitton show
was a lot of tailored suits, which in itself felt like an objec-
tion to giving up on how life used to be before people began
to work from home. The jackets had bright pops of red and
yellow or jaunty checked patterns. The stars, though, were
Abloh’s pandemic-era “Zoooom With Friends” stuffed toys,
which clung to clothes and bags and filled the presentation
withchildlikecheerfulness.
AblohgrewupinRockford,Ill.,ina RustBeltneighbor-
hoodoutsideChicagoknownmoreforboltandscrewfactories
than couture shirts and crossbody bags. Watching Michael
Jordan as a kid taught him perseverance and excellence, he
says. He attended the University of Wisconsin at Madison and
the Illinois Institute of Technology, and got an internship at
Fendi in Rome, where he first met Michael Burke, now the
CEO of Louis Vuitton.
The son of Ghanaian immigrants, Abloh has positioned him-
self as a champion of granting access to those who’ve been shut
out. He often talks about unlocking and opening doors—for
both designers and consumers. Fashion has always been done
clandestinely, within studios hidden from prying eyes. But
Abloh chronicles what goes on behind the scenes and teasesFALL STYLE Bloomberg Pursuits August 31, 2020“I’M TAKING
ON THE TASK OF
RAISING BLACK
VOICES, AND THAT
TO ME IS A NEW
CHAPTER OF MY
CAREER”