Inside Louis Vuitton's Singapore-Exclusive Show
The runway made a comeback in a big way at the Louis Vuitton Spring/Summer 2021 Spin-Off Fashion Show
Outside the ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands, the excitement was palpable. It was the night of the Louis Vuitton Spring/Summer 2021 Spin-Off Fashion Show—a worldwide first for the brand—and for many of the fashion insiders in attendance, it had been more than a year since the last international Fashion Week circuit and the unparalleled, inimitable energy of that experience. The show marked the first large-scale fashion event in the South East Asian region, as well as the return of a sense of spectacle and glitz to the industry.
To pull it off, the brand divided the show into three sessions throughout the day, each with 112 socially-distanced, masked-up guests. Mirroring the way the collection was first presented in Paris last October, guests in physical attendance were immersed in a space completely encased in green-screen material; guests watching at home saw those same spaces covered in a projection of Wim Wenders’ Wings of Desire—a film close to the heart of Nicolas Ghesquiere, the brand’s Artistic Director of Women’s.
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Photo: Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton SS21 Spin-Off Show
Totalling at 67 looks, the collection included pieces first presented at the Paris show—where sci-fi futurism meets elevated streetwear—as well as the debut of a beach-inspired Summer 2021 Capsule made up of breezy silhouettes and uplifting pastels. In a nod to the host country, the clothes were showcased on a cast that celebrated the diversity and beauty of Singaporean and Asian faces.
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For Singapore’s first fashion production that came anywhere close to pre-pandemic levels, the stars turned out in full force—guests included Zoe Tay, Stefanie Sun, Rebecca Lim, Desmond Tan and Yoyo Cao. Despite the minor hiccups—the unexpected rain and the ensuing technical livestream glitches—the show represented a cautious but bright, new hopeful beginning for fashion in the region. It also highlighted a possible path forward for the industry at large, as well as a new way of showing fashion and telling its stories—rooted in an overarching global vision, but brought directly to where the consumers are via carefully curated local activations.
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