With the first ever digital couture week well underway, and Milan and Paris menswear shows set to take place online towards the end of July, a return to physical shows in September felt a long way off (okay fine, at least a bit of a way off). 

Now, however, comes news that Louis Vuitton is set to debut its latest menswear collection as part of an IRL, open to the public event in Shanghai on August 6. Speaking to WWD via Zoom, Virgil Abloh revealed LV is set to go on a tour of the world, eschewing the traditional fashion schedule in favour of presenting seasonless offerings. 

With the upcoming SS21 show entitled Message in a Bottle, a big focus for the revered French brand is sustainability, with Abloh confirming the collection is made up of 30 looks crafted from new material, 25 looks crafted from recycled and repurposed material, and 25 looks carried over from the previous collection.

“The new show is probably the biggest leap that I’ve made in terms of proposing a new system,” Abloh explained. “It’s probably the most fully packaged from the clothes itself (sic) and the craftsmanship, to the things you’ll see with the films and how it activates. We’re in a new era.” 

Also coming is a new film which teases Message in a Bottle, set to land on July 10 as part of Paris’s digital fashion week. Blending animation and IRL action, Zoooom With Friends sees Louis Vuitton shipping containers being moved onto a boat, with a bunch of cartoon characters shown hiding below deck as the ship sets sail.

Revisit the AW20 LV show above.