The Gate Keepers

As fashion houses go through ever-evolving aesthetics under a constantly changing rosterof creatives, eponymously branded museums help trace their storied histories and connections to the now.

- Asri Jasman

In 2018, Virgil Abloh was named artistic director of Louis Vuitton’s men’s division. The historic announcement not only marked the first time that a person of color took creative reins at the famed Maison, it also signaled the beginning of a new streetwear-inclined era. The decision may have been publicly divisive—Abloh’s rather overtly ‘hypebeast’ image was often cited as straying too far from the trappings of a luxury fashion house—but was a sign of the times, where luxury is no longer solely for the elites.

But then again, who’s to say that Abloh isn’t Louis Vuitton enough? Especially when the maison’s ready-to-wear only began in 1997 under the creative directorship of Marc Jacobs. Succeeding Kim Jones, Abloh is only the third creative director in Louis Vuitton’s menswear history. And for over two decades, the Louis Vuitton man has gone through more than his fair share of style evolutions.

It’s a similar case for many other luxury fashion houses. Alessandro Michele’s unwaveringly extravagant and excessive proposals for Gucci have been markedly different from that of Frida Giannini’s or Tom Ford’s. Balenciaga’s current spate of athletic sneakers and oversized graphic-laden hoodies by Demna Gvasalia are certainly not a reflection of founder Christobal Balenciaga’s couture creations. And while Kim Jones’s designs for Dior Men often reference Christian Dior archives, they hardly bear any resemblance to that of his predecessors’.