Recreating the closing scene from the “Billie Jean” music video, complete with a lamppost-lit street corner prop and faux Manhattan skyline, Virgil Abloh turned the Louis Vuitton FW19 presentation for Paris Fashion Week Men’s earlier today (Jan 17) into a full-out fashion tribute to Michael Jackson. Fittingly enough, the King Of Pop made for the perfect style muse, and the show itself brought in a star-studded audience that was seen from the front row all the way to the runway.
There was a lot going on during the highly-anticipated runway show, which created buzz not too long ago after Abloh mentioned in his Dec ’18 Interview Magazine feature alongside Young Thug that his next fashion venture would be inspired by MJ. What was believed to be simply “capsule-sized” — Tees, hoodies and maybe even a line of sparkly gloves was the original hypothesis — ended up being a full range of ready-to-wear pieces that are the center of LV’s Fall/Winter 2019 campaign.
The color theme saw a variety of hues, starting with royal purple, vibrant red and even a few metallic silver pieces, all the way to more monotone grey and black tones. The additional pops of color came in the form of pieces sewn together by way of a multi-flag motif, and through an extension on the Wizard of Oz theme seen in the SS19 show, this time utilizing graphics based on the 1978 African American-themed remake The Wiz that famously starred Michael Jackson as Scarecrow.
Stream the Louis Vuitton FW19 Paris Fashion Week Men’s show above, then peep the photo recap below of the key players who made appearances — Frank Ocean, Kid Cudi, Offset and Naomi Campbell included! — and the standout styles that made it down the runway on the backs of rappers like Octavian and even Sheck Wes:
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Image: Swan Gallet/WWD/REX/Shutterstock
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Image: Swan Gallet/WWD/REX/Shutterstock
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