Louis Vuitton 透過服裝啟發深思的力量/ Louis Vuitton, The power of thinking through clothing

看見改革的力量

對時尚產業而言一成不變才是危機，在經過2020年的動盪洗禮，各個品牌也開始探討不同議題。有重新反思定位的、找尋品牌或設計初衷的，更有藉由疫情發揮的，每一個變化或大或小，在此刻都是新的嘗試，希冀從中找到過渡艱困時期的方法。同時這樣的變化，也影響著觀看者，得以去想像未來流行的樣貌。

Louis Vuitton【透過服裝啟發深思的力量】

每一季的Louis Vuitton男裝，設計師Virgil Abloh都會對社會現象的提問，希望透過服裝的展現，去讓觀看者反思這些問題。當然這一季也不例外，他提出「誰能夠主張藝術？什麼定義了高與低？誰能夠參與創作藝術？誰能夠購買藝術？」的疑問。每一個問題都能激起熱烈的辯論，但最終是否會有「真理」反而不是Virgil Abloh所最在意的部分。就如同，我們在看秋冬系列一樣，每個人都有自己詮釋的方式與觀點，沒有對錯，反而是藉由眾人的想法，建構出Louis Vuitton男裝設計哲學。

再一次的Virgil Abloh由身為黑人的身份出發，透過James Baldwin著於1953年的論文「Stranger in the Village」，以居住在瑞士村莊中的非裔美國人為原型，探討其深刻感受。招牌的長大衣沒有缺席，部分還被他加長成曳地的樣式，並使用如丹寧、格紋和條紋與皮草等面料製成。同時，經典西裝外套造型，仍是Virgil Abloh的最愛，大量結合不同材質，被印製大理石般的紋理，甚至是解構拼接色塊等手法。而經典的Monogram圖騰，在這季出現於銀色塑料西裝，以及繪於宛如回收物的面料上，形成對比。就如同前述，「黑人視野」一直都是Virgil Abloh的主軸，於是他回顧自身的歷史，還把屬於迦納的傳統織物納入設計中，利用圍裹的方式，點綴在其中。不僅如此，他成長與工作的紐約、巴黎的城市地標與天際線，也成為外套上的立體裝飾，替這系列增添亮點。

The Power Of Reform

For the fashion industry, immutability is a crisis. After the baptism in the turmoil of 2020, various brands have begun to discuss different topics. There are those who are re-rethinking their positioning, looking for the original intention of the brand or design, and are even taking advantage of the pandemic. Every change, big or small, is a new attempt at this moment, hoping to find a way to transition from the difficult period. At the same time, such changes also affect the audience to imagine what will be popular in the future.

Louis Vuitton, The power of thinking through clothing

Every season of Louis Vuitton men's clothing, designer Virgil Abloh will ask questions about social phenomena, hoping to make viewers reflect on these issues through the display of clothing. Of course, this season is no exception. He raised the question "Who can claim art? What defines high and low? Who can participate in creating art? Who can buy art?" Every question can arouse a lively debate, but whether there will be "truth" in the end is not the part that Virgil Abloh cares most about. Just like when we are looking at the autumn and winter series, everyone has their own interpretation and point of view. There is no right or wrong. Instead, the Louis Vuitton menswear design philosophy is constructed from everyone's ideas.

Once again, Virgil Abloh started from the point of view of being a black person. Through James Baldwin's 1953 paper "Stranger in the Village", he used African Americans living in Swiss villages as the prototype to explore his profound feelings. The signature long coat is not absent, and some of it has been lengthened by him into a ground-grabbing style, and it is made of fabrics such as denim, plaid, stripes and fur. At the same time, the classic suit jacket shape is still Virgil Abloh's favourite. A large number of different materials are combined to be printed with marble-like textures and even deconstructed and spliced into colour blocks. The classic Monogram totem appears in this season in silver plastic suits and painted on fabrics that look like recycled objects, forming a contrast. As mentioned above, "black vision" has always been the main axis of Virgil Abloh, so he reviewed his own history and incorporated traditional fabrics belonging to Ghana into the design, embellishing it in the form of wrapping. Not only that, the city landmarks and skylines of New York and Paris where he grew up and worked have also become three-dimensional decorations on the jacket, adding highlights to this series.