The dreamlike symbolism of Louis Vuitton's FW20 campaign

Virgil Abloh chose clouds as a symbol of Louis Vuitton's FW20 collection – clouds that, thanks to their ability to float above geographical limits, become a symbol of freedom, unity and peace that go beyond any borders or constraints. In addition to being present in the setting of the show held last January, the clouds become, in the FW20 campaign shot by Tim Walker, an anthem to the free imagination of childhood and an invitation to the new generations of black creatives of the future to dream and go beyond restrictions and expectations set by today's culture. 

The campaign uses the metaphor of "Heaven on Earth", a fantasy world that goes beyond the prejudices of today's culture, which looks to the absolute freedom of the symbolic sky that surrounds the models and colours the clothes and whose founding values are an inclusive and diverse ideal, giving space to creative talents of all artistic disciplines, including English actor Michael Ward and Ghanaian model Ottawa Kwami. 

In this sense it takes to form the concept of Boyhood cultivated by Abloh, that is a vision of the world capable of subverting the preconceptions of the establishment, represented in the countryside by the traditional English neoclassical salon that becomes a surreal and playful place. The concept of Childhood is a concept that also shows Abloh's confidence in the future and the new generations, the only ones able to bring a material change in culture and realize firsthand the ideals of inclusivity that Louis Vuitton now wants to represent. 

The purpose of the collection focused on formalwear, but starring young talents of the future, explore the culture behind the concept of formal dress, studying its relationships with the younger generations and its possible re-interpretations. The pattern of the clouds, therefore, invades the strict limits of the classic sartorial codes, filling them with an unprecedented joie de vivre and reappropriating the language of formality. The symbol of the clouds also becomes part of the accessories, the main category of Louis Vuitton since its foundation, rereading in a personal way the logo of the Maison and, implicitly, rereading its identity.