Louis Vuitton Appoints Virgil Abloh as New Creative Director
26 März 2018 - 4:17PM
Dow Jones News
By Matthew Dalton
PARIS -- French fashion house Louis Vuitton named American
designer Virgil Abloh as creative director for menswear, hiring a
leading proponent of streetwear as brands across high fashion are
embracing the segment to appeal to a younger clientele.
Mr. Abloh, 37, founder of the Off-White brand, will take the
helm immediately at the menswear department of Louis Vuitton, part
of luxury conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. He will
present his first collection at Paris men's fashion week in June,
LVMH said.
The appointment highlights how the luxury industry has moved to
rejuvenate decades-old brands with streetwear inflections, such as
sneakers, track pants, synthetic fabrics and T-shirts. Those
designs have proved to be a hit for some of the top-selling brands
in luxury fashion, including Gucci, Balenciaga and Louis Vuitton
itself.
The storied French brand -- known mainly for its signature
handbags -- collaborated last year on a collection with New
York-based Supreme in one of the most high-profile marriages of
luxury fashion with streetwear. The collection produced lines
around the block at pop-up stores opened to sell the clothes.
High-fashion designers who can navigate the streetwear aesthetic
have been in high-demand. Saint Laurent recently snagged Louis
Vuitton's previous menswear designer, Kim Jones, who led the
brand's collaboration with Supreme. Burberry PLC this month hired
Riccardo Tisci, who excelled at blending streetwear with luxury
fashion while at Givenchy, to help revive the British brand's fusty
image.
Mr. Abloh has becomes one of the few black creative directors at
a European luxury fashion house, joining Olivier Rousteing at
French couture house Balmain.
Mr. Abloh has floated in between the worlds of fashion and art,
presenting Off-White shows at Paris fashion week, designing
collections with brands ranging from Jimmy Choo to Nike and working
with Japan's Takashi Murakami on an exhibit for the Gagosian
Gallery in London.
"I find the heritage and creative integrity of (Louis Vuitton)
are key inspirations and will look to reference them both while
drawing parallels to modern times," Mr. Abloh said.
Write to Matthew Dalton at Matthew.Dalton@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 26, 2018 10:02 ET (14:02 GMT)
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