We always knew Virgil Abloh-era Louis Vuitton would be a hit. What else was going to happen when you paired the world's biggest luxury brand with its most exciting designer? But nobody could predict how big a hit, with new reports showing just how smart a move hiring the artistic director has been.
According to WWD, Abloh-designed Louis Vuitton gear is already outselling their game-changing 2017 Supreme collab, with over 1,000 shoppers flooding the Tokyo Harajuku pop-up.
Louis Vuitton CEO Michael Burke confirmed that within two days of trading, the store beat out Supreme sales by over 30 percent - an astonishing feat given that there was no dedicated marketing campaign or advertising.
This is important for two reasons. As one of Louis Vuitton's landmark collabs, the Supreme collection signalled the first real merger of luxury and streetwear - the prestige of the world's biggest luxe brand magnifying the incurable fever for the most desirable streetwear label of the moment. Pieces sold out across the board, and fetched a lot more at re-sale value. A happy marriage indeed.
So the fact that Louis Vuitton has out performed that landmark moment is indicative of Abloh's talent. As a man who cut his teeth in high-end streetwear, he's instilled Louis Vuitton with the same signature. That means loose, distorted shapes; sweatshirts; hoodies; cross-body bags; and, of course, shameless braggadocio in the form of LV logomania. Thanks to him, Louis Vuitton isn't just cross-pollinating with streetwear anymore. It's now streetwear proper. And it's working.
