In a recent Dazed interview, Virgil Abloh discussed a myriad of topics, from that iconic 2009 group picture with Kanye West to his current work at Louis Vuitton. But it’s his comments about the future of streetwear that really caught our attention.
When asked what will happen to streetwear in the 2020s, he said, “I would definitely say it is gonna die, you know? In my mind, how many more T-shirts can we own, how many more hoodies, how many sneakers?” According to Abloh, the next decade will be all about vintage fashion: “There are so many clothes that are cool that are in vintage shops and it’s just about wearing them.”
Looking back at that 2009 Tommy Ton fashion week picture with Kanye and Fonzworth Bentley, Abloh feels it “predicated the idea of the democratization of fashion.” He continued, “It’s like those inspirational quotes that say, you know, ‘You get made fun of and then in the future everyone adopts what they were making fun of’.”
He also reflected on his appointment as artistic director at Louis Vuitton’s menswear line. “As a young black kid from Rockford, Illinois, from immigrant parents from Ghana, West Africa, that was like, impossible, you know? Like, categorically not gonna happen in a lifetime.
“I thought that fashion was one of those industries that would reinforce people feeling that ‘This isn’t for you. If you don’t have this shirt, you’re not in the club,’” he continued.
Read his interview in full here.
