Louis Vuitton and Virgil Abloh Announce Chicago Residency

For artist and designer Virgil Abloh, one exhibit just isn’t enough. He’s already been hard at work putting the finishing touches on his “Figures of Speech” retrospective which will open this month at the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art. Now, to accompany the retrospective, Louis Vuitton has just announced a limited-time pop-up residency featuring limited-edition merchandise designed by Abhol just down the street from his exhibit. The all-orange capsule collection will include a monogram leather cap, sunglasses, a monogram soft trunk, and monogram soft trunk backpack, a chain belt, and sneakers. The items were designed specifically for and will be available exclusively at this exhibition and will be featured alongside other items from the Vuitton’s fall menswear line.  

The space, which was designed specifically for the residency, will also be orange-hued and will serve to disrupt the store’s usual monochromatic palette giving the residency a pigment of the urban Chicago life on which it was based. This is not the first time Louis Vuitton has dropped Abhol’s new designs spontaneously. Last year, the French luxury house opted to stealth launch Abloh’s first designs for them in pop-up shops in London and Shanghai.

A streetwear guru who helms his own Milan-based label Off-White, Abloh, has been credited with bringing a fresh perspective to the luxury brand since he took over as Men’s Artistic Director in March 2018. As the first black creative director at Vuitton, one of the few Americans leading a major fashion house, and with notable partnerships with industry innovators like Kanye West, Abloh has solidified himself as a creative powerhouse, the best of whom we’ve likely yet to see. 

The short-lived residency, which will run from June 8th through July 7th, will be housed on West Randolph Street in Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood, just south of Abloh’s exhibition at the museum. Abloh is also collaborating on a NikeLab space with the icon sports apparel brand which will accompany his retrospective.