Louis Vuitton prefall ’20 is a standalone collaboration between men’s artistic director Virgil Abloh and BAPE founder, Japanese designer and musician Nigo.
The collection is cleverly named LV² — a nod both to the partnership and Vuitton’s classic Daimler check. It encompasses ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes and accessories.
Celebrating the travel-centric core of the house, (don’t forget it started life as a trunk maker), LV² observes the London ‘Mod’ era dandy through a Tokyo lens. Its sartorial focus evokes Nigo’s formative years — he found much of his early inspiration in the subcultural history of London — alongside Abloh’s continued reinterpretation of classic Louis Vuitton men’s tailoring.
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A cropped Mod suit adapts and magnifies the Louis Vuitton Damier check. The motif is echoed in a double-faced duffle coat with micro-check lining, while a black fishtail parka morphs values from the dandy and sports wardrobes. Patchworking appears throughout in a meeting between the Louis Vuitton Monogram and the Damier check rendered in denim.
In a nod to Human Made, the Japanese brand Nigo founded in 2014, a flight jacket features the graphics ‘LV Made’ alongside a Mount Fuji graphic.
Footwear too fuses dandy and Damier. A formal steel toe-cap derby alongside a tasselled loafer in monogram or black looks to the Mod spirit while the Damier check features on a suede ankle boot, a hiking boot, a shearling boot in a blown-up version of the motif.
Even the sunglasses feature trunk clip detailing. The LV² patchwork is repeated in bags based on classic Louis Vuitton shapes: the tote, the keepall, and money bag which comes with animal charms lifted from the Nigo universe.
Nigo partnered with Pharrell Williams to create and launch the streetwear brands Billionaire Boys Club in 2005 and in 2014 founded Human Made.
