M.I.A performed at the show
There was a moment during M.I.A’s performance at the Off-White show when it almost felt like fashion’s stone-faced show-goers were about to get up and dance. That’s quite an accomplishment, but then these are unprecedented times. Virgil Abloh opened the first haute couture fashion week with an audience since the pandemic, and he didn’t do things by halves. After setting up Imaginary TV last season – the online platform he dreamed up to present his collection – Abloh kicked off this show season with Imaginary FM: a string of events broadcast from his fancy new Off-White flagship store off Place Vendôme, where crowds have been gathering all week. It culminated in his runway show, and the brilliant performance by M.I.A. and her dancers, who Abloh said embodies what he’s about. “I think she’s one of our generation’s most important vocal popstars. She speaks. She doesn’t rest on her laurels. She doesn’t shy away from political issues or representing people.”
Off-White is growing up
“It’s rebelling against the younger version of myself,” Abloh said of his collection. “This is the first time I’ve actually said that. Normally I say I’m trying to stay the younger version of myself. But in a weird ‘ta-dah’ way, it’s like: Off-White should be adult!” Opening haute couture week in Paris is a fairly adult thing to do, but while other non-couture brands have sometimes infiltrated this sacred schedule in a tongue-in-cheek way, Abloh wasn’t joking around. His collection may not have been haute couture in the formalised sense, but he certainly set his sights on new territory. Gone was the too-cool-for-school youth lethargy of twisted jeans and plait shirts; in its place was tailoring that meant business and gowns that testified to Abloh’s underpinnings as an architect. Like last season, the show was in-season and straight-to-consumer.
It was the first big post-pandemic runway show
As far as you-had-to-be-there experiences go, this show was in a different category. While the last few weeks of men’s shows have seen a return to the live format, none have had the prominent turnout that’s descended upon the couture shows in Paris this weekend. In every way, these presentations mark the return of the runway, and at Off-White, the energy of reemergence and change was intoxicating. Anyone who took their seat in the Lycée Carnot, where Abloh held his show, expecting to see a pre-2020 version of his brand (or indeed a pandering to post-pandemic trends for comfort and ease), was sorely mistaken. “If I were to look at my body of work, especially through the year off, I think I’ve grown up the most in the shortest amount of time. And that is super apparent when I look at the work. I see a maturity,” Abloh said.
It showcased a refined Off-White
Apart from the obvious effects of The Great Reset, what brought on this change? “You know what it is?” Abloh said. “It’s because I like tension more than uniformity. I notice that in myself: I pull in different directions.” In a time when comfort-wear and streetwear are on the horizon of every trend forecaster, Abloh is compelled to do the opposite. It materialised in super sharp tailoring – in strict leather, clinical transparency, or really luxe sartorial fabrics – and formalwear imbued with the gestures of haute couture, some made in materials fused with foam that made garments bend around the body. “I get frustrated when the message becomes monotonous. I need evolution,” Abloh said. “This this is the first major rebellion against that. The world has changed, and I like that this collection challenges the audience that surrounds Off-White. It doesn’t play into it.”
Apart from the obvious effects of The Great Reset, what brought on this change? “You know what it is?” Abloh said. “It’s because I like tension more than uniformity. I notice that in myself: I pull in different directions.” In a time when comfort-wear and streetwear are on the horizon of every trend forecaster, Abloh is compelled to do the opposite. It materialised in super sharp tailoring – in strict leather, clinical transparency, or really luxe sartorial fabrics – and formalwear imbued with the gestures of haute couture, some made in materials fused with foam that made garments bend around the body. “I get frustrated when the message becomes monotonous. I need evolution,” Abloh said. “This this is the first major rebellion against that. The world has changed, and I like that this collection challenges the audience that surrounds Off-White. It doesn’t play into it.”
The cast was stellar
Abloh reflected his thoughts in all-embracing cast, which included Amber Valetta, Honey Dijon, Bella Hadid, Alton Mason and Candice Swanepoel. “I take 2020 to heart. When we were sitting at home watching the world being turned upside down, there were very clear guidelines as to what the fashion industry was hoping to evolve to. When it comes to representing that, we’re across the spectrum, and there’s always room to improve,” he said. “I’ve always believed in diversity on all ends of the spectrum.”
Abloh reflected his thoughts in all-embracing cast, which included Amber Valetta, Honey Dijon, Bella Hadid, Alton Mason and Candice Swanepoel. “I take 2020 to heart. When we were sitting at home watching the world being turned upside down, there were very clear guidelines as to what the fashion industry was hoping to evolve to. When it comes to representing that, we’re across the spectrum, and there’s always room to improve,” he said. “I’ve always believed in diversity on all ends of the spectrum.”
No comments:
Post a Comment