Virgil Abloh’s Louis Vuitton Spring-Summer 2022 Men’s Collection titled “Amen Break” is a telling passage between the past and the future.
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At this point, we should be calling it the Virgil Abloh Cinematic Universe. Since the pandemic, Louis Vuitton Menswear’s Artistic Director, Virgil Abloh, has been producing art in moving pictures. Even if his Men’s Fall-Winter Collection was technically dubbed as a fashion show, the presentation still had a short film feel to it. That’s why when the brand came out with a full fashion film for their next collection, we weren’t at all surprised. Amen Break was in all ways a cultural reset. Louis Vuitton Men’s Spring-Summer 2022 Collection was able to tie in the message that Abloh has been adamantly trying to come across in his work. The pieces showcased stuck to the designer’s DNA, while adding in a new narrative to the history of Louis Vuitton. With all that being said, Abloh’s newest collection for Louis Vuitton is another one for the books, sure to be loved by his loyal clientele and the many critics that adore him.
Essentially, Amen Break’s narrative is a loose retelling of Lupe Fiasco’s life. The American artist and rapper grew up on the Southside of Chicago in the 1970s and 80s. He was a young black man who grew up under the influence of his father—an African drummer and member of the Black Panthers. Because of the circumstantial elements that surrounded Fiasco’s life, he was exposed to gang violence, oppression, and racism.
To combat the societal pressures imposed on him and his peers, the father-son tandem turned to the philosophical values of martial arts as a solution to the problem. Thus, the Asian elements that were married with Black culture that was so tastefully executed in the film.
Aside from the overall message and plot of Amen Break, the clothing told a story as deep as the visuals did. Instead of seeing the usual florals and bright sunny colors for Spring-Summer, we were introduced to electric blues, fire-fighter reds, neon green, cool-toned magenta, and bumblebee yellow. Those who were featured wearing the pieces include: GZA, Goldie, Saul Williams, Issa Perica, Caleb Femi, JIM JOE, Kandis Williams, Thelma Buabeng, Octavia Burgel, Lupe Fiasco, Julian Eugene Tsukasa Williams, Damian Eugene Nagisa Williams, Shabaka Hutchings and Malik Le Nost.
The collection is a great addition to Louis Vuitton’s belt, for it showed a great balance of artistic exuberance and wearability. Definitely, we could see the referential influence of the ‘70s and ‘80s—the eras that the movie took place in. This solidifies Abloh’s true talent in setting the trends of the future by looking at the past. All in all, it was a great win for Louis Vuitton and all the creatives that were involved in the production of Amen Break: Louis Vuitton Spring-Summer 2022 Men’s Collection.
