AS THE soothing, mellow tune of The Beatles’ Blackbird echoed through Le Carreau du Temple in Paris, Virgil Abloh’s army marched forward through a field of white carnations, closing Off-White’s SS20 Men’s show. The army, lead by a colourfully clad Gigi Hadid, is reminiscent of the enormous following that Abloh has amassed in the recent years (a following that no doubt played a part in his appointment as artistic director of menswear at Louis Vuitton).
The opening look was a pre-cursor for what was to come, accentuating the two key elements of the show: the theme of plastic and the collaboration with American graffiti artist Futura, which manifested itself as set of striking spray-painted prints. For a majority of the collection, Abloh also stuck to his usual modus operandi of presenting extremely wearable and versatile pieces such as hoodies and bucket hats, something that his fans love him for and all of them featuring the brand’s signature quotation mark labelling.
Besides his more streetwear-inclined offerings, Abloh presented some sharp tailoring and ultra-cozy knitwear, in both vibrant and more tonal hues. Also in abundance was outerwear, ranging from denim jackets and capes to puffer coats and rain coats. There was a look for everyone; and the modern, cosmopolitan man will certainly have no problem building an entire wardrobe from Off-White this season.
Less wearable were perhaps the pieces that closed the show: notably, two billowing, floor-length gowns in the Futura graffiti print and the kaleidoscopic oversized blazer suit donned by Hadid.
Based on the cheers that erupted as Abloh took his final walk down the runway, however, it is certain that those pieces too, are bound to sell out when the collection comes to store. Off-White shows no signs of stopping and we can only wait with baited breath to see what Abloh will offer next.
by Kay Leong