Off-White FW18: the aristocratic side of Virgil Abloh

Virgil Abloh presents Off-White's FW18 collection during PFW, a mix of equestrian influences and contemporary New York femininity that reveals the designer's aristocratic side.

Here's everything you need to know about the Paris show

The Set

Outside the Rue Cambon, a crowd scrambles to try and get in and watch the Off-White show.

Among those who manage to find a place in the front row stands out the "Melting Passes", a football team made up of immigrants without a permit of citizenship to which Abloh drew the uniforms.

Three. Two. One.

The recorded voice of Susan Sontag starts in a conversation about storytelling with John Berger, then it's up to The World Is a Ghetto by War and Smashing Pumpkin with Disarm.

Bella Hadid arrives and the show begins.

The inspiration

It all started because Virgil Abloh bought a horse for his family. At least that's what the rumors say and the animal has become the protagonist of the tapestry-prints that characterize the items in the collection.

The other inspiration behind the new creations of Abloh is, in the words of the designer himself, "the type of New York City woman who goes to SoulCycle on weekdays and rides horses in Westchester on weekends”.

The collection

When Bella Hadid arrives on the catwalk wearing a white shirt, a corset printed with equestrian motifs and a pair of blue-gray boots paired with the bag, it is clear that, despite the many collaborations, Abloh still has talent to give to all of us.

"This is a juxtaposed formality," explains Abloh before the show, as he arranges the latest details of a collection called "West Village" that shows the designer's less sophisticated street side.

An interesting and almost aristocratic proposal composed of riding boots, tailored jackets, quilted hoods, bustiers, dresses in reflective sequins, in leather, silk or tulle and some athleisure details such as tight body, sports bras, windbreakers and shoes gym.