New Menswear Designer, Virgil Abloh of Louis Vuitton
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Just last week, Dior Homme announced that Kim Jones has succeeded Kris Van Assche as Artistic Director following the latter's departure from the house — leaving who would be taking over Jones' former position at Louis Vuitton up in the air. However, it didn't take long for the follow-up: Off-White designer Virgil Abloh has just been named the new Creative Director of Menswear at Louis Vuitton.
Prior to founding his massively successful haute streetwear label Off-White, Abloh was Creative Director for Kanye West for a decade. Save for a six-month internship at Fendi alongside West 12 years ago, the Ghanaian-American designer has never worked for a major luxury fashion house before, nor does he have any formal fashion education under his belt.
His influence, however, speaks for itself: Abloh has had many successful collaborations with brands such as Nike (his highly-coveted "Ten" sneakers currently sell for as much as $2,000 on the market) and Moncler. With the Off-White C/O Jimmy Choo collection, he became the first ready-to-wear designer to collaborate with the luxury shoe label. Abloh has also been nominated for both Womenswear and Menswear Designer of the Year at the 2018 CFDA Awards — awards that industry icon Raf Simons bagged last year.
Abloh's appointment certainly spells a new era for Louis Vuitton, one that Kim Jones has more or less paved the way for with his own streetwear-injected designs for the house, as well as his collaboration with Supreme. Michael Burke, CEO of Louis Vuitton, describes the designer as "incredibly good at creating bridges between the classic and the zeitgeist of the moment."
What exactly does the future hold for one of world's oldest luxury fashion houses? We will discover that this June, when Abloh showcases his highly-anticipated first Louis Vuitton menswear collection for Men's Fashion Week in Paris.
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