FASHION WEEK

Virgil Abloh’s Louis Vuitton Shows Keep Driving the Internet Wild

His latest featured everything from floral harnesses to the rapper Mino.


Louis Vuitton : Runway - Paris Fashion Week - Menswear Spring/Summer 2020
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At this point, there’s no way that Virgil Abloh, artistic director of Louis Vuitton men’s and founder and CEO of Off-White, isn’t exhausted. And yet, just a few weeks after successfully transforming JFK airport into a fashion capital, and just a day after debuting his latest Off-White collection, Abloh still managed to host the standout show of Paris Fashion Week Men’s: Louis Vuitton men’s spring 2020, which was arguably so far the most impressive yet at the house during his tenure.

Thankfully, the setting for the show on Thursday was a bit simpler than JFK; the house returned to its home of Paris, and headed for the streets of Place Dauphine, on Île de la Cité. Of course, this being Abloh, he didn’t keep things too simple; the house still gave it something of a makeover, stamping its usual green park benches with LV monograms and making an addition in the form of an enormous red, LV-stamped moon bounce. By the end of the show, though, the setting turned out to be the least exciting part.

Models walk the runway of the Louis Vuitton Menswear Spring Summer 2020 show during Paris Fashion Week Men’s on June 20, 2019.

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First things first: the accessories. Expectations were high, given that last season’s standout—glow-in-the-dark bags—effectively sent the internet into a frenzy, and yet they still managed not to disappoint. Bags were everywhere, strapped seemingly every place they could fit across several models’ chests—even those who were already not only toting, but also wearing, kites. (And ones much bigger than those the house sent as invites at that.)

Models walk the runway of the Louis Vuitton Menswear Spring Summer 2020 show during Paris Fashion Week Men’s on June 20, 2019.

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And then there were the plants. Flora and fauna made it everywhere, from more handbags to even atop one model’s head.

Models walk the runway of the Louis Vuitton Menswear Spring Summer 2020 show during Paris Fashion Week Men’s on June 20, 2019.

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A bag on the runway of the Louis Vuitton Menswear Spring Summer 2020 show during Paris Fashion Week Men’s on June 20, 2019.

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And then there were the harnesses. Six months after Timothée Chalamet’s appearance on the Golden Globes red carpet, they’re still going strong. In fact, one could argue, they’re just beginning to blossom:

Dev Hynes and a model walk the runway of the Louis Vuitton Menswear Spring Summer 2020 show during Paris Fashion Week Men’s on June 20, 2019.

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As you may have noticed, the model on the left is none other than Dev Hynes, the singer and producer behind Blood Orange. He wasn’t the only familiar name to join this season’s cast: Ellery Harper, Laura Dern and Ben Harper’s 17-year-old son; Héctor Bellerín, from London’s Arsenal soccer team, who also wore a harness of sorts; the actor Keiynan Lonsdale, whom you may recognize from Love, Simon, all also made cameos on the “runway,” aka the street. Still, even their combined star power paled in comparison to Mino, the 26-year-old South Korean rapper, producer, and member of the band Winner, whose legions of fans made sure he made the most waves (at least online).

Hector Bellerin, Mino, and Keiynan Lonsdale walk the runway of the Louis Vuitton Menswear Spring Summer 2020 show during Paris Fashion Week Men’s on June 20, 2019.

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Of course, the “front row”—which is to say brasserie-style seating on the sidewalks—also hosted familiar names. Gigi Hadid, for one, shared a table (and a glass or two of rosé) with Kris Wu.

Gigi Hadid and Kris Wu at the Louis Vuitton Menswear Spring Summer 2020 show during Paris Fashion Week Men’s on June 20, 2019.

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Valentino’s Pierpaolo Piccioli, Joel Edgerton, Natalia Vodianova, Miguel, Swae Lee, and Liya Kebede also managed to nab seats. And so did Frank Ocean—though he didn’t look too thrilled about. Not that we can blame him; Ben Harper and his wife, Jaclyn Matfus, are no replacement for his favorite front-row companion: Timothée Chalamet.

Jaclyn Matfus, Frank Ocean, and Ben Harper at the Louis Vuitton Menswear Spring Summer 2020 show during Paris Fashion Week Men’s on June 20, 2019.

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