Virgil Abloh’s first ad campaign for Louis Vuitton has arrived and with it, he continues to introduce new, boundary-pushing ideas to the luxury fashion industry.
As well as elevating new talent — the 3-year-old Alieyth, 7-year-old Leo James Davis, and 16-year-old Luke Prael — the campaign focuses on stages of boyhood rather than the actual product, illustrating the values of his debut SS19 collection.
Swapping out the regular use of celebs and lithe-limbed models, Abloh instead enlisted a three-year-old named Alieyth to front the images. Shot by Inez & Vinoodh, the young boy appears in the Wizard of Oz sweater from the SS19 collection. Elsewhere, seven-year-old actor Leo James Davis, and 16-year-old Luke Prael also appear.
“With the campaign, I wanted to make something that is universal and human at the core. Inclusive and dense, something that has gravity,” Abloh told WWD. “I decided I was going to focus the campaign on boyhood, not men’s wear. What makes men? The different stages in one’s life, from infancy all the way through teenager, adolescent, young adult to adult,” he added.
That’s not all. In addition to the Inez & Vinoodh-shot images, there will be two additional parts to the campaign released over the next few months. Dropping on February 1, Algerian multimedia artist Mohamed Bourouissa will present his offering, which is set to include Alton Mason, Blondey McCoy, Steve Lacy, Bakar, and Octavian. Dutch photographer Raimond Woudaʼs series – to be released on March 22 – will feature groups of students, much like the ones invited to the debut show, wearing the colourful tees that were given to guests.