The dynamic New York culture of the past from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s are the inspiration for Louis Vuitton’s Autumn-Winter 2017 Men’s Collection. “It’s uptown and downtown,” says Kim Jones, Louis Vuitton Men’s Artistic Director. “Artists and musicians, friends and heroes.”
Jones added: “I don’t talk about politics here, but this collection is inspired by the glory days of New York artists…people like Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, Julian Schnabel, Robert Mapplethorpe. It’s the time when anyone from anywhere went out and mixed together in clubs.”
The collection is an ode to the multitude of styles that co-exist and co-mingle in New York City. At its heart is the notion of collaboration – the fusing of two separate parts, a creative journey towards a new whole. Inspiration comes from all walks of New York City life, spanning three decades and a multifaceted view of masculinity. The mood of collaboration inspires a bold new journey for Louis Vuitton. “No New York City men’s conversation is complete without Supreme,” asserts Kim Jones.
Established on Lafayette Street in 1994 – 140 years exactly after Louis Vuitton founded his Malletier in Paris – Supreme has become a New York City staple. It epitomises the cross-cultural mood of both the city, and this collection.
For Autumn-Winter 2017, Supreme and Louis Vuitton collaborate for the first time, creating a capsule collection of clothing, accessories and jewellery, showcased alongside Vuitton’s own. A new Monogram variation is here interrupted with Supreme’s iconic Box Logo. It is showcased in a range of garments, woven in classic pale washed Japanese denim and camouflage jacquard, fils coupé on pyjamas as well as in a cognac and chocolate colour way referring to the original 1896 Monogram canvas. More than a collaboration between two labels, this represents the excellence a New York street style and the Louis Vuitton’s French savoir-faire.
