Following Virgil Abloh’s final collection for Louis Vuitton, re-staged in a spin-off show earlier this year in Thailand, the French luxury brand has announced the launch of Louis Vuitton: Virgil Abloh, a book that aims to capture the journey, spirit and legacy of the late Men’s Artistic Director. Written by Abloh’s close collaborator, Anders Christian Madsen, the title offers an intimate portrait of a man born to break boundaries on and off the runway.
The book will be divided into eight chapters, signifying the eight Virgil-orchestrated Louis Vuitton menswear collections and shows during his reign as Louis Vuitton’s Men’s Artistic Director. Interspersed with quotes from Virgil Abloh himself, or “Abloh-isms” as it's better known as, the title covers all major highlights of his tenure at Louis Vuitton. All the major highlights of Abloh’s tenure at Louis Vuitton are included in this 360-pager, like his first campaign for the Maison; Shot by Inez & Vinoodh, featuring a three-year-old girl dressed in a sample-sized Yellow Brick Road sweater from the spring-summer 2019 collection.
In collaboration with Assouline, the first luxury brand on culture, Louis Vuitton looks to release the title with two collectible covers within the Assouline Classics Collection. One will be taken from the Louis Vuitton’s spring-summer 2022 spinoff show in Miami, with an image of a young child bounding towards a striking red Louis Vuitton hot air balloon, emblematic of the significance of youth in Virgil’s work. The other will be the sports cartoon artwork by cultural icon/artist Reggieknow, who illustrated the now cult characters for Virgil’s spring-summer 2021 show (a video starring animated puppets dubbed ‘The Adventures of Zooom with Friends’)— the first time Louis Vuitton ever collaborated with a Black artist on the runway.
Louis Vuitton: Virgil Abloh will be available for purchase on 15 September, with the classic version retailing at USD 120, and the ultimate version retailing at USD 1,200.
