Virgil Abloh’s final Louis Vuitton collection at Paris Fashion Week

Following his shock death in November, Virgil Abloh’s last collection for Louis Vuitton has been revealed at Paris Fashion Week.

Angelic: Virgil Abloh’s final collection for Louis Vuitton was presented at Paris Fashion Week.

Imagination is what drove Virgil Abloh – and his final collection for Louis Vuitton was full of that sense of wonder.

The tear-filled front row at Paris Fashion Week witnessed a collection that had been 95 per cent finished before his shock death in November, aged just 41, from a rare form of heart cancer.

Dubbed An Octology According to Virgil Abloh, it was his eighth collection for the menswear line, which he has helmed since 2018.

It brought together threads from all of his previous collections and highlighted the breakdown he pioneered between the traditional luxury world and street culture. It was also proof that Abloh’s tastes and interests were nothing short of varied.

The Gustave Courbet painting The Painter’s Studio, which had informed his first campaign for the house, was reimagined in tapestry and turned into cargo pants and shorts suits.

Streetwear touches ran throughout via baseball caps and sneakers, cartoon characters, bomber jackets and low-slung baggy denim, printed with the LV logo.

The blurring between men’s and women’s wardrobes – a theme through so many men’s luxury collections this season – continued here, with longline skirts in velvet, knits and tiered tulle, given a street swagger with bombers and caps.

In the pre-prepared show notes, Abloh said: “I don’t believe in gender, I believe in design.”

Carpet-bag floral tapestries were worn head-to-toe from floppy hat through tailored coat to shoes – and carpet bag.

A selection of all-white looks finished the show, including a number of modern takes on bridal looks for men that included veils over caps, and huge lace angel wings on the back.

Naomi Campbell closed the show in a simple white satin overcoat worn with baseball cap and sneakers.

One of only two black creative directors at a Paris luxury house, Abloh was a master at crossing ­divides, bringing together opposing forces and creating a platform for diversity.

His predecessor at the house, Dior designer Kim Jones, said, “(Virgil and I) travelled the world together. I feel very lucky to have known him. It’s such a waste to think what he would have done.”