LV x NBA: AOC Catches Up With a Brilliant Virgil Abloh 'For the Ages' Collaboration

AOC is working to define the key creative concepts of the esteemed and beloved, now departed into the cosmos, Louis Vuitton Men’s Artistic Director Virgil Abloh. At no point did we cover Abloh’s work with the NBA.

Looking Back to Move Forward

Rather than just post-date articles into the past — which we typically do in posting archival material, in order to keep the model, photographers and now brand archives sequential by date — AOC shares this new article about a collection that actually debuted in May 2021. More will come.

Pretend you are reading this article, as we would have written it, had we known about the second LV x NBA collaboration [or the first one!!!]. Having just looked at three collections — this one is the second drop — the product design is just gorgeous.

We will pull together other elements of the collab, because AOC’s marketing/branding instincts are having a big WOW moment over this concept.

Note also that the $2200 late May drop basketball that AOC references at the end of this article is now on sale at Sotheby’s for $8000. This discovery prompted me to ask Google if Sotheby’s is now in the resale market, as opposed to exclusively bidding auctions. The answer is “yes”. Read on.

AOC Writes About a May 2021 LV x NBA Drop

Louis Vuitton sharee its second collection created in collaboration with the NBA called Louis Vuitton x Capsule Collection II in May 2021.

LV artistic director Virgil Abloh delivered a collection that merges American sports and fine French craftsmanship, as well as uniting the signature emblems of the two iconic institutions in a sophisticated and male elegance way.

Abloh referred to the process as “transversal”, a concept fundamental to his design approach in fashion as well as architecture.

In geometry, a transversal is a line that passes through two lines in the same plane at two distinct points. If the angles created by the intersection are identical, then the lines are running technically parallel in geometry-speak. Abloh sought to create ideas that intersect seemingly parallel lines not automatically guaranteed to intersect at some future point. He created the intersection of seemingly ‘of little interest to each other ‘entities.

The three-year partnership between the NBA and Louis Vuitton was announced in January 2020.

“Fashion muses aren’t predictable. Ideas of luxury can be found in the sports world and its champions as much as in traditional forms of artistry. This collection celebrates the cultural contribution of basketball and its diverse characters, and the idea of relatability as a force of unity today,” Abloh said in announcing the exciting collab.

The second LV x NBA collection for Pre Fall 21 alluded to the way basketball players dress as they travel to games, conduct their many business affairs off the court and often speak at press conferences. Many NBA players manage businesses directly related to their sports prowess, but also in unrelated categories like real estate. Many are investors in major new business concepts and especially ones looking for seed money — translated startups.

Louis Vuitton hopes that NBA fans will identify with and support the collab, rich in sophisticated merchandise that goes far beyond the mass market concept of NBA merchandising.

NBA Playoff Winners Meet Louis Vuitton Trunk Makers

WWD reported, when the project was announced in early 2020, that The Larry O’Brien Trophy, presented annually to the NBA team that wins the final championship game, “now travels in a case custom-made by six craftsmen working more than 100 hours at the Vuitton workshops in the Paris suburb of Asnières. Coated in the house’s signature monogram canvas, it is lined with microfiber in the NBA’s trademark blue.”

In another brilliant move, Vuitton has created a matching double-door wardrobe trunk for the players who won the championship, designed to house clothing, accessories and footwear.

Given the rich sophistication of the merchandise, it deserves a worthy trunk to travel in.

Virgil Abloh and Don Crawley

The Louis Vuitton x Capsule Collection II also featured selected pieces designed together with Don Crawley, known professionally as Don C, an American streetwear designer from Chicago, Illinois. Crawley has a long relationship with Kanye West.

The collection also introduced the first ever Louis Vuitton basketball [LV x NBA] at a cool price of $2200. The Louis Vuitton x NBA Capsule Collection II dropped in stores worldwide on May 28th, 2021.

AOC loves the Louis Vuitton collaboration with the NBA in a heart-felt way, because it gives the NBA players the respect they deserve in a post Colin Kaepernick [NFL, we know] world. There’s no NBA-related “shut up and dribble” BS attitude in this LV project. Call AOC inspired. ~ Anne

The North Face X Gucci Quietly Drops Big a Second Time to Lead 2022 Collaborations

The North Face X Gucci Quietly Drops Big a Second Time to Lead 2022 Collaborations AOC Fashion

The North Face X Gucci doubles down on a BIG New Year’s launch of chapter two of their collaboration. We say that emphasis has shifted from fashion runway camp patterns and global tribe explorers with good hearts in last year’s January debut to closeup images of practical technical gear that means business for 2022.

As more than one blogger has pointed out, no one is seriously mountaineering Tibet’s Everest North Face or Cho Oyu in these clothes. But there is a serious performance attitude in the pieces and accessories that creates a different energy and seriousness from the first drop. AOC loves the closeup shots, and we are always suckers for flowers.

Kudos to French photography duo, twin brothers Jalan and Jibril Durimel, [IG], who shot the campaign in Iceland. Born in Paris to parents from the island of Guadeloupe, at the age of 4 they moved to Miami where they first jumped into the waters of American culture.

GUCCI X The North Face Launches with Camp Design Happy Colors, Patterns

GUCCI X The North Face Launches with Camp Design Happy Colors, Patterns AOC Fashion

GUCCI X THE NORTH FACE has landed, with a visual emphasis on Gucci. Experts will look under the hood of this magic backpack ride to understand the less obvious North Face performance -gear qualities of the camp-fashion garments.

The Gucci-color palette is packed with vivid colors and whimsy galore, a design vision that makes the collection distinctly runway-friendly. Does the collab project performance? Not really. It’s Gucci-camp style all the way — which is probably fantastic — or maybe not. Buyers with high-value credit cards will write the sales success element of this story.

The campaign and lookbook images were shot in The Alps by Daniel Shea [IG], with creative direction by Alessandro Michele and art direction by Christopher Simmonds.

Tom Ford Pre-SS2022 Holiday Images by Carlijn Jacobs with Nyarach Abouch Ayuel

Tom Ford Pre-SS2022 Holiday Images by Carlijn Jacobs with Nyarach Abouch Ayuel AOC Fashion

Model Nyarach Abouch Ayuel is styled by Alice Goddard in Tom Ford Pre-SS22 Holiday fashion images lensed by Carlijn Jacobs [IG].