Inside Louis Vuitton’s Final Tribute to Virgil Abloh

A Kendrick Lamar performance and a star-studded runway show capped off the groundbreaking Abloh era.

As Louis Vuitton staff implored several hundred guests to sit down a few minutes before the brand’s Spring 2023 show commenced, pro skater Lucien Clarke took in the scene. “It means the world to me” to be here, he said. Clarke was a close collaborator of the late Virgil Abloh, whose nine collections for the house forever altered the fashion landscape. Clarke is the walking embodiment of Abloh’s project, which was to open the monolithic doors of the industry for kids with big ideas, and to feed everyone else’s imagination along the way. In an unprecedented partnership, Abloh signed Clarke as the inaugural member of a nascent Louis Vuitton skate team, and together they released a pro skate shoe. Clarke was wearing a pair. “It’s a blessing for me to be here for his last takeoff, really,” he said. “I’m emotional and excited to see what the final collection is going to be.”

This was it, then. After two runway shows that unveiled Abloh’s final work for the house inside star-studded celebrations of life, this collection—number infinity, according to the show notes—was designed by his studio team, a tribute to Abloh and his biggest ideas. A winding yellow runway set up inside the Carré du Louvre resembled an oversized train set, the centerpiece of a “magnified playground” for guests like Justin Timberlake, Naomi Campbell, Russell Westbrook, and Jack Dorsey. “Toys are tools for the imagination,” read the show notes. “The playthings we are given early in life become building blocks for dreams and aspirations.” It quickly became clear that the house’s final tribute to Abloh final wouldn’t be funereal, but rather a celebration of the themes that motivated his shockingly prolific and endlessly inspiring creative output.

Under the beating sun, the show began with a procession of Louis Vuitton-clad flag wavers, followed by the rambunctious Marching 100, Florida A&M University’s famous marching band. My seatmate, Fear of God designer Jerry Lorenzo, is an FAMU alum. “It’s tugging the heartstrings to have the Marching 100 out here,” he said after they strutted past. Then Kendrick Lamar, who materialized next to Naomi Campbell in the front row, proceeded to tug even harder. “Virgil. Create. How many miles away? Virgil,” he rapped, wearing a multilayered wool suit and diamond-set crown of thorns.

Out came some of the strongest and most memorable silhouettes Abloh introduced at Vuitton. Sturdy wool blazers over flowy, flared trousers spoke to the inventive tailoring that started to catch fire in the last few years of his tenure. “Accessomorphosis,” that indelible Virgil-ism meaning accessories morphing into garments, returned in a set of tie-dye jackets covered in multi-colored shearling pockets. There was a skirt—a garment Abloh seemed enamored with shortly before his passing—for just about any taste, rendered in motocross leather, rivet-studded workwear canvas, and fine cotton muslin. The house’s savoir faire, which Abloh loved to flex, came through in couture-level flower field-covered dégradé tapestry chenille coats.

Abloh was also fond of sending out models in showstopping sculptural creations, like massive kite apparatuses or a jacket built out of the forms of Chicago’s skyscrapers. This season, two models wore enormous speakers on their backs, which boosted the sound of Lamar’s performance as Timberlake bopped his head and rapped along.

72 looks later—like many of Abloh’s collections, this one was packed with a head-spinning amount of ideas—it was over. The models followed the Marching 100 holding a train of rainbow fabric, a callout to the rainbow road on which Abloh unveiled his very first collection. “Long live long Virgil,” rapped Lamar. The message was clear: we were witnessing the closing of a chapter in the book of Louis Vuitton. “I thought they were beautiful,” Lorenzo said of the clothes. A celebration, but also an addition, to Abloh’s potent design language. “It almost gave it some more legs!” he added.

Of course, now the talk will inevitably turn to who comes next. Louis Vuitton is said to be preparing to announce a successor in a few month’s time. Will it be Martine Rose, who helped set the tone at Demna’s Balenciaga, and whose eponymous line is taking London by storm? Or Grace Wales Bonner, whose sensitive menswear and deep ties to the art world could inject the brand with a sense of classicism and elegance? Or Abloh protege Samuel Ross, who could burnish his mentor’s legacy? Or Tyler the Creator, who would bring impeccable taste and considerable fame?

As the Spring 23 collection proved, whoever it is will inherit an enormously talented and spirited design team, one of the most critical factors in establishing a clear and strong message at a luxury house. But they’d be smart to continue Abloh’s spirit of inclusion and access and community building. “I just hope it keeps the same youthful energy, and stays inclusive of all the people who used to be around V,” said Abloh’s friend and muse Luka Sabbat before the show. “I hope they understand the changes that were made and they stay true to that.” “It’s going to be hard, it’s going to be a big boot to fill, innit?” added Clarke. He said he wasn’t sure if Vuitton would continue producing his skate shoe, or what plans they had for the many ideas Abloh’s passing left unrealized. But at the Louvre, in Abloh’s dreamworld for one last time, it didn’t seem to matter to Clarke. Abloh had already changed the course of his life, and the lives of thousands of people like him. “For me right now, it kind of ends with him, to be honest. Long live the king!” Clarke said. What’s next is up to him.