Designed before the passing of the House’s late artistic director, Virgil Abloh, the new Louis Vuitton Pre-Fall 2022 menswear collection sparkles the imaginations of fashion’s wondrous possibilities.
Though sustained by a fanbase that is fluent in streetwear and fashion faux-pas, Virgil Abloh’s tenure at Louis Vuitton was propelled by a rare kind of sincerity. At a glance, each menswear collection possesses a childlike sense of wonder, crackling hymns of boyhood to surrealist extent, and a grown-up fear for the future.
Whereas so much of the fashion sphere is steeped in ideas of identity distinction, the late artistic director’s virtuosity has always been grounded in the idea that anyone could step into his clothes and become seen just as they person they have always been.
Virgil explains this as building blocks to what menswear should be. “What makes menswear? Boys do. I believe that building blocks stacked upon each other through our lives form the narrative of what defines menswear,” says Abloh. “My work today bears evidence of everything that happened to me in my past: how I was brought up, educated, and how I evolved”
It transpires even to the smallest of collections, and shines evidently in the new menswear Pre-Fall 2022 collection.
In fashion speak, pre-collections are the unabashed, stripped-down variants of the larger main collections. Which meant the clothes imagined for these collections were really made to sell. It often reflects a lack of ideation — through the designs, the way it is presented, and the accessories that accompanies it.
But as the House’s press statement further emphasises, “Virgil Abloh approached pre-collections with the same analytical rigour that defined his runways. As passionate as he was about the sensation of shows, he studiously immersed himself in what he called the “normalcy” of pre-collections.”
Menswear Pre-Fall 2022 was completed and photographed before his passing on 28 November 2021. In it, as with the most recent collections, it is devoid of conventional dress codes, genres of clothing traditionally labelled as ‘formalwear’, ‘workwear’, or ‘streetwear’ cross-pollinate in a wardrobe vision for the future.
These ideas take form as three-piece suits taking new shapes: wrap skirts replace the waistcoat, blazers trade place with utility jackets, and tapered trousers turn into flares.
A summer-themed segment of the collection focuses on the elevation of sportswear. Switching expected codes, tracksuits appear in tailoring fabrics – and one in leather – while a workwear suit is adorned with vegan leather pockets, and dress shirts transform into track shirts with pin-hook detailing.
Bringing graphics into the professional wardrobe, the Damier pattern of a jacquard suit fades out into tiny fragments revealing miniature LV logos, dégradé landscapes emerge from denim, and grid patterns take form through embroidery.
The Louis Vuitton Menswear Pre-Fall 2022 collection will be available at all Louis Vuitton boutiques in Singapore come April 28.
Once you’re done with this story about the new Louis Vuitton Pre-Fall 2022 menswear collection, click here to catch up with our April 2022 issue!
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