Pop culture icon, Virgil Abloh, has yet again amazed the masses. Although thriving with his brand Off-White and as the menswear designer for Louis Vuitton, Abloh couldn’t stop there. His most recent endeavor has been curating his exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, and opening the Louis Vuitton Chicago Residency.
The exhibition, “Figures of Speech”, aims to show how Abloh is constantly redefining fashion, art, and design. The exhibition includes everything from his Nike x Off-White sneakers to sayings with his signature quotation marks to unconventional paintings and sculptures that include his pieces from various collaborations. He explains how “this 20-year survey shows how I am constantly looking for a way to transform myself from consumer to producer, navigating a path between ‘tourist’ and ‘purist’, between the literal and the figurative.” Although working with various mediums and collaborating with different kinds of brands, Abloh has begun to bring together streetwear and high fashion.
My favorite piece from the collection is the images of the three year old shot for Louis Vuitton menswear spring/summer 19 collection. The images of the boy with the vibrant duffle bags stand in stark contrast to the all black room, allowing them to stand out and immediately catch your attention.
The Louis Vuitton Chicago Residency surfaced in direct correlation with the exhibition opening. The pop-up store was inspired by Abloh’s all orange low top Louis Vuitton sneakers that are rumored to drop with the coming season’s collection. Everything in the store is consequently neon orange. The store not only highlights pieces from the fall collection, but doubles as an art installation. Unique, stylish male mannequins are a staggering two stories tall. One can not only admire the art installations but can shop orange accessories that are being sold exclusively in the Chicago pop-up.
Chicago has become a global fashion destination through the opening of the exhibition and the Louis Vuitton Residency. Both locations are a prime example of how fashion and art are continuing to intertwine, and affirms the fact that Virgil Abloh is at the forefront of this continuing movement.
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