When Mr. Virgil Abloh announced the collab news back in December, and then Mr. NIGO teased us with a poster on Instagram back in March, we knew LV is cooking another collaboration as iconic as the 2017 LV x Supreme collection.
Today, Louis Vuitton launches the much anticipated LV² – “Louis Vuitton squared” – a standalone collaboration between men’s artistic director Virgil Abloh and NIGO.
It’s only natural that this collection would happen given that Mr. NIGO is Abloh’s mentor since his pre-LV era.
Mr Virgil Abloh and Mr NIGO
If you’re familiar with BAPE, Supreme, or the Japanese street fashion scene, you should know Mr. NIGO – or Tomoaki Nagao-san – the founder of A Bathing Ape (BAPE), who many also affectionately refer to as “the second godfather of Japanese streetwear” after Mr. Hiroshi Fujiwara.
For the uninitiated, Mr. Fujiwara is a mentor of Mr. NIGO and he helped launched NIGO’s career in streetwear. The nickname NIGO (it means “number 2” in Japanese) was given to Nagao-san early in his career for his physical resemblance to Mr. Fujiwara, making him “Fujiwara No 2”. Mr. NIGO is currently the designer of his relatively new label Human Made.
You can tell LV² isn’t the expected 100% streetwear – it’s tailoring-focused and heavily inspired by the 50’s London mod culture. Mr. Abloh stayed true to his words when he said “let’s not do the expected” in an interview with Vogue back in March. Louis Vuitton Damier check was put to good use in this collection – from cropped Mod suit, double-faced duffle coat with micro-check lining to the recurring patchwork in denim. Personally, I’m loving the tailored checker suits.
Let’s look at the accessories – or more specifically, the TOTE and the KEEPALL.
It’s a yes and YES. From the colorway to the leather patchworks, these bags and accessories are definitely collector worthy. The tote and keepall just went into my wish list, placed themselves beside Louis Vuitton x Supreme Keepall and Rei Kawakubo x Louis Vuitton Monogram Sac Plat Tote.
LV² is now available worldwide. For prices and availability, drop by Louis Vuitton Malaysia or call for more details.
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