When news of Virgil Abloh’s death broke on Sunday, many speculated that Louis Vuitton’s presentation of his Spring-Summer 2022 collection in Miami, Florid, scheduled to take place just days later, would be canceled. But the French luxury label, for which he helmed menswear, said it would go on as per the late designer and his family’s wishes.
Before the models emerged, Louis Vuitton’s CEO, Michael Burke, made a speech in which his voice sometimes cracked as the offshore wind rustled against the runway-planted birch trees, and we all sat silent. He said: “The deeply moving show we are about to see is born out of an idea Virgil and I first discussed three years ago. It is based around the traditional coming-of-age narrative, but of course, being Virgil, he spun and recontextualized the concept for the 21st century and in doing so expressed his own unique talents and vision. This idea of coming of age was important to Virgil because inspiring and empowering younger generations defined who he was. He used the platform he had to break boundaries, to open doors, to shed light on his creative passions—art, design, music, and of course, fashion—so that everybody could see inside—not only to dream of being part of that world but to also find ways to make that dream a reality.”
