Louis Vuitton this week brought new surprises to the fashion and art scene. Their new exhibition, presented before the Fashion Week in Milan, included New York graffiti legends and a limited-edition sneaker collaboration. This exhibition was also important for reviving the memory of LV’s former creative director, Virgil Abloh. Abloh first came up with the idea of this project. Now, we can finally see its realization.
See Louis Vuitton’s Leather LV Trainers
Overall, Abloh included in the process some of the best street artists. This includes Lady Pink, Lee Quinones and Rammellzee. They became famous graffiti and street icons when they turned subway station and trains into moving canvases. Everything occurred in the 70s and 80s. Also, they represent an important period for the modern art history and the NY graffiti movement.
The exhibition’s title is “White Canvas: LV Trainer in Residence”. Garage Travesi is a marked spot where the exhibition will take place on March 16. Lady Pink and Quiñones last Thursday participated in a live painting event. Also, they created specific murals for this scene. A collection of previous work by all artists is also on display, including two sculptures by Rammellzee.
Lady Pink and Quiones each painted a pair of the house’s leather LV Trainers, which the shoemakers at Louis Vuitton carefully replicated to the last detail in the company’s Fiesso d’Artico facility. The sneaker launch and collaboration come at an intriguing time, just before Pharrell Williams becomes creative director.
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“Younger people need to gain entry into these artists” – Gellatly
Sky Gellatly, co-founder of creative agency and artist managing firm Icnclst, also spoke about Abloh’s aspirations for this project. He said everything they did, they did around the world surrounding them with art, music, and sneakers. Together, they cared about those artists and the art they were making, so they wanted to accelerate the narrative around them.
For this project’s curation, Abloh and Gellatly knew they had to return to the source. “We figured that this would be a way for younger people to gain entry into these artists, with sneakers being a vehicle”, Gellatly says. For Gellatly, putting this cooperation into action and carrying out Abloh’s vision was an emotional but fulfilling experience.
“This project feels almost entirely personal, like not professional”, Gellaltly says. “As my friend, I know how much these artists meant to him. He saw them as superheroes growing up”. He continued, “I owe Virgil a lot, and I’m trying to do right by what he wanted to happen, just holding it down and following through”.
