Finding the ideal venue, Louis Vuitton Thailand chose The Pinnacle on Iconsiam's eighth floor for the presentation of the eighth collection by the late Virgil Abloh, who was named men's artistic director in 2018.
The numerology corresponds to the last chapter of his octology -- the Louis Vuitton men's autumn-winter 2022 collection unveiled in Paris in January.
Like the premiere, the spin-off show in Bangkok titled "8.2" had the upside-down Louis Dreamhouse as a stunning backdrop.
The multi-talented Abloh had an education background in architecture and civil engineering. His calling as a fashion designer left a great legacy after he passed away last November.
One of his aspirations was to change our ways of seeing and recode the way we treat each other according to how we look and present ourselves by using fashion as a tool.
His octology plays out in the tradition of the Hero's Journey, the age-old story of the tried and tested underdog, who eventually becomes a sensation in the eyes of his spectators.
The Louis Dreamhouse conveys the themes and messages of the arc he created at the French fashion house.
"The greatest stories ever told -- the 'Hero's Journey', from Star Wars to the Bible -- work in an arc. It doesn't work in straight lines," Abloh once said.
Recently staged at The Pinnacle, the 8.2 fashion show unfolded in the Louis Dreamhouse2 and manifested in a physical but surrealist sphere where everything was circulated: the sun orbited the set as 76 models travelled in circular passages and instruments floated planetarily in the dreamy ether.
Abloh's Boyhood Ideology was reflected in the cinematic prelude I Dreamt Of You by Thai film director Sivaroj Kongsakul. Based on Sivaroj's childhood memories, the story follows the formative experiences of an 11-year-old boy in rural Thailand while illustrating Abloh's belief: Youth is global.
Seeing the world through a child's unspoiled eyes, the Boyhood Ideology permeates the men's autumn-winter 2022 collection that tears up and transmutes dress codes tied to societal archetypes -- tailoring, sportswear, dresses -- and patchworks them in new ways.
Cartoon graphics depict natural, supernatural and spiritual forces and include motifs like wizards, animals, cherubs, clouds, and the Grim Reaper.
A cat carrying a bindle nods at the idea of the outsider forever on the move to the next challenge, while bees signify hard workers, who spend their lives collaborating for a greater cause.
In his first collection, Abloh reimagined Gustave Courbet's The Painter's Studio from 1855 in photographic form. The painting is revisited for Collection 8, and along with Giorgio de Chirico's Souvenir d'Italie from 1914, he adapted the originals as tapestries on the new ready-to-wear pieces.
Tailoring takes on statuesque form with strong shoulders and nipped-in waists nodding at an Olympian, superhuman silhouette. The designs are based on a variety of sportswear uniforms tied to the likes of cycling, triathlon, skiing and swimming.
Full-length dresses feature pleats, tulle sleeves and bas volets printed with the cartoon graphics.
Angel wings constructed like kites in lace, tulle, cotton poplin and sheer fabrics with embroideries pay tribute to the childlike imagination of flying, and the notion of Heaven on Earth.
