Louis Vuitton Presents Its New Men’s Spring-Summer 2022 Collection By Virgil Abloh: Amen Break

Amen Break

Imagine if the beats of a thousand hits could be traced back to the same singular drum solo. In 1969, The Winstons – a funk-soul group from Washington, D.C. – released a little-known B-side titled Amen, Brother. The track went largely overlooked until, in 1986, DJs BreakBeat Lou and Lenny Roberts included it on Ultimate Breaks and Beats, a compilation album for music producers. Sampled by the decade’s new guard of musicians, the song’s drum break would go on to underpin the foundation of the radical hip-hop and jungle genres, and splinter into thousands of the pop, rock and metal tracks most familiar to us today. That drum solo was the Amen Break.

Premise

The Amen Break is characteristic of a discourse central to the work of Virgil Abloh. For Louis Vuitton Spring-Summer 2022, the Men’s Artistic Director zooms in and out on archetypes and subcultures known to us all, highlighting at once their cultural context and collective re-contextualisation. A chapter in the Black Canon’s preservation and teaching of Black art history on par with that of Europe, the Amen Break exemplifies the arts’ instinct to sample and resample a core design. Applied to fashion, where the staples of suits, tracksuits, shirts and t-shirts are re-interpreted on a never-ending loop, the Amen Break becomes a metaphor for the myth of ownership in contemporary creativity.

Rave

A recurring motif in the collection, the genetics of rave serve as an example of the cross-cultural gene pool found in the makeup of many of the subcultures fashion draws on today. In the late 1980s, the electronic sub-genres pioneered on the Black and LGBTQ+ scenes of cities like Chicago and Detroit cross-pollinated with British nightlife informed by the dance parties of Ibiza. Soon, American DJs were playing club nights England, which would evolve into the events across the Atlantic defined as rave. In essence, the genre was shaped from breakbeat, sped-up hip-hop, b-boy, electro, Jamaican sound-system culture, house music from Chicago, and techno from Detroit. The dress codes favoured by rave’s practitioners – who would transform from their more conformist daytime looks – were largely adapted from the hip-hop wardrobe.

Martial arts

In 1995, the Brooklyn-born hip-hop artist GZA released the album Liquid Swords, named after the 1993 film Legends of the Liquid Sword. Underpinned by the teachings of martial arts – already a recurring motif in the work of his group, Wu-Tang Clan – the record further integrated elements from the 1980 film Shogun Assassin, and dealt with philosophical themes analogised through the game of chess. GZA employed the virtues of composure native to martial arts to express values of mental strength through physical self-discipline. GZA features in the Louis Vuitton Spring-Summer 2022 film.

The Struggle of Polar Opposites

Suit vs. Tracksuit
Day job vs. Night Job
Man vs. Woman
Made vs. Ready-made
Sport vs. Spectator
Street vs. Formal
Sublime vs. Brash
Natural vs. Processed
Chess vs. Chequers

(Track)suits

An icon of rave dressing, the tracksuit is loaded with social preconceptions. Juxtaposed with the tailored suit, Virgil Abloh at once activates and neutralises the unconscious biases connected to both wardrobe staples. The root of the study is the dichotomy between ‘formal’ and ‘street’: everyday parts of archetypical fashion terminology, which is itself loaded with social preconceptions. Is a man in tailoring trustworthy? Is a man in ‘streetwear’ less trustworthy? Does a man, who wears a suit by day, rave in a tracksuit by night? In its repeated sampling and resampling of the tracksuit and the suit, and by hybridising their properties, the collection de- and recodes the human preconceptions tied to garments, which were, once upon a time, simply garments.

Dress sense

The manmade contrast between ‘formal’ and ‘street’ can be reflected in the conventional idea of men’s and womenswear. Addressing the gender-related archetypes tied to certain garments, the collection focuses on elongated lines as a purely human approach to dressing, setting it against archetypical garments of a traditionally contrasting nature. In that transition, dresses, skirts and kilts linked to cultural or subcultural expressions of empowerment and strength manifest naturally in silhouettes. Imbued within these lines are also celebrations of the cultural heritage of Virgil Abloh.

“Nike Air Force 1”

The Nike Air Force 1 was designed in 1982 and is one of the most successful shoes ever created. On the album It Takes Two from 1988, DJ E-Z Rock was immortalised wearing a Nike Air Force 1 basketball trainer altered with a swoosh adorned in the Louis Vuitton monogram. The cover embodied the hip-hop community’s early practice of hacking together high fashion and sportswear, side-lining diverging brands with equal reverence. A cultural symbol in its own right, today the Nike Air Force 1 serves as an objet d’art emblematic of self-generated subcultural provenance. For Spring-Summer 2022, Virgil Abloh collaborates with Nike on bespoke Air Force 1s, fusing the trainer’s classic codes with the insignia and materials of Louis Vuitton in homage to the hip-hop culture that shaped him.

Gambit

An age-old metaphor for human existence, the chequers of chess are emblematic to the collection. Played by people of all ages, cultures and creeds, the game deals with essentially human themes of limitation and defeat, and represents the challenges, cunning and intellectual self-defence that face us in life. From “stalemate” to “checkmate,” the rules of chess are present in our everyday language. Its chequers can be reflected in the aesthetics of a multitude of cultures and subcultures through history, and echo both the visual codes of rave and the formative tapestry of Virgil Abloh. In the collection, the graphics of chess inform a variety of motifs, while the physical form of the game manifests in silhouettes through skirts, hats and gloves.

Metalheadz

In 1994, the British artist Goldie – a figure central to the jungle and drum ‘n’ bass scenes – founded the record label Metalheadz alongside the recording due Kemistry & Storm. Named for Goldie’s infatuation with the metal acetates known as dubplates on which new recordings would be tested before release, the label became a pioneer in jungle and drum ‘n’ bass, with a sound fusing hip-hop, house, reggae and techno. Staged at London’s Blue Note, its weekly club night Metalheadz Sunday Series achieved legend status in the community. Spring-Summer 2022 features a collaboration with Metalheadz across ready-towear and bags, while Goldie appears in the film.

Jim Joe

Spring-Summer 2022 features a ready-to-wear and bag collaboration with JIM JOE, a visual artist living in New York. Their practice is both conceptual and pictorial, grown from roots in chirography and language. Their work has been exhibited globally and locally.

Film synopsis and credits

The Louis Vuitton Spring-Summer 2022 Men’s Collection by Virgil Abloh is captured in the film Amen Break, featuring GZA, Goldie, Saul Williams, Issa Perica, Caleb Femi, JIM JOE, Kandis Williams, Thelma Buabeng, Octavia Burgel, Lupe Fiasco, Julian Eugene Tsukasa Williams, Damian Eugene Nagisa Williams, Shabaka Hutchings and Malik Le Nost, alongside a broad cast of talent. Directed by Mahfuz Sultan, the film explores ideas of transmission: the act of passing of something from person to another, activating waves of change across generations, and impacting the lives of others.

It is a story of about a father and son united by an unnamed loss, crossing a dream world to deliver a message to the other side. Along the way, adversaries conspire against the child, heroes emerge to guide him, and great sacrifices are made to get him across the divide. The film observes life’s supporting figures: those who embark on long journeys to make the passage less difficult for those who follow; who fight the battles for the future of others, break the boundaries, and dismantle archetypical notions. Metaphorically informed by the Amen Break – the singular, little-known drum break that would become a founding factor in hip-hop and jungle, and go on to be sampled in thousands of tracks in its aftermath – the film reflects on a historic moment in Black art and culture when electronic music and hiphop emerged like twins from the same egg, and trickled into every part of the globe.

The film’s narrative is an abstract interpretation of the story of Lupe Fiasco, the American fine artist and rapper, who grew up on the Southside of Chicago amid the gang turbulence of the 1970s and ‘80s. Determined to offer another way out for young people in the area, Fiasco’s father – an African drummer and member of the Black Panther Party – organised martial arts studies as an alternative path.

By employing the philosophical values of martial arts as a solution to the problem, Fiasco impacted a generation of kids with ideas of peace, understanding and empowerment. A local legend, his work in the community served to neutralise archetypical preconceptions and open a gateway of opportunity previously obscure.

Louis Vuitton: AMEN BREAK

Creative Direction by Virgil Abloh
Starring: GZA, Goldie, Saul Williams, Issa Perica, Caleb Femi, JIM JOE, Kandis Williams, Thelma Buabeng, Octavia Burgel, Lupe Fiasco, Julian Eugene Tsukasa Williams, Damian Eugene Nagisa Williams,
Shabaka Hutchings and Malik Le Nost
Choreography by Josh Johnson
Film Directed by Mahfuz Sultan
Director of Photography Philippe Le Sourd
Dramaturgy by Kandis Williams
Screenplay by Mahfuz Sultan, Kandis Williams, Josh Johnson andVirgil Abloh
Visual Direction by Lina Kutsovskaya and BeGood
Set Design by PLAYLAB, INC.
Music direction and production by Benji B
Styling by Ibrahim Kamara
Casting by Samuel Ellis Scheinman and Piergiorgio Del Moro for DMCASTING
Graphic Design by Studio Temp
Film Title designed by Tom Kan
Film Production: La/Pac
Fashion Show Production: La Mode en Images

Soundtrack and credits

The soundtrack for the Louis Vuitton Spring-Summer 2022 film was created by Musical director Benji B, conceived from references spanning Liquid Swords, classic GZA and Wu-Tang-era textures and samples, Metalheadz-era drum ‘n’ bass, and synthesised elements derived from the scores of martial arts and sci-fi cinema. The musical influence of Goldie – who appears in the film and collaborates on the collection via his record label, Metalheadz – is consistently present. The sonic experience opens with Dassai Menace, a new track by Goldie, and closes with the artist’s aptly-titled
masterpiece, Timeless. The soundtrack weaves together musical performances including the classic 4th Chamber by GZA – who also appears in the film, and whose album Liquid Swords informed the show – and a flute performance by Shabaka Hutchings, alongside original pieces for the film score created by Nguzunguzu, El Michels Affair, and Benji B.

Track list

Goldie – Dassai Menace
GZA - Liquid Sword (Intro)
Benji B – The Axe
El Michels Affair – Masterclass
El Michels Affair – Souvent Femme
Nguzunguzu – Menace (Crash Devil Mix)
Nguzunguzu feat Shabaka Hutchings – Dojo Theme
GZA – 4th Chamber
Goldie – Immersive #1
Goldie – Timeless (with Saul Williams)