Squaring: the multiplication of a number by itself. The acknowledgment that one idea can co-exist with another.

For the Pre-Fall 2020 season, Louis Vuitton launches LV– ‘Louis Vuitton squared’ – a standalone collaboration between men’s artistic director Virgil Abloh and Nigo. The capsule collection encompasses ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes and accessories and features dedicated graphics and interpretations of the Louis Vuitton signatures. Borne out of a longstanding camaraderie, Virgil Abloh invited the Japanese designer and founder of Human Made to partner on a one-off line fusing their individual approaches under the guise of Louis Vuitton.

Celebrating the travel-centric core of the house, LVobserves the London Mod-era dandy through a Tokyo lens. The cross-pollination sets the tone for a tailoring-focused collection, evoking chapters in the formative years of Nigo – who found much of his early inspiration in the subcultural history of London – while honing the traditional sartorial values proposed in the men’s Louis Vuitton Pre-Fall 2020 collection by Virgil Abloh. A nod to Human Made, the Japanese brand founded by Nigo, a flight jacket features the graphics ‘LV Made’ alongside a Mount Fuji graphic.

A cropped Mod suit adapts and magnifies the Louis Vuitton Damier check. The motif is echoed in a double-faced duffle coat with micro-check lining, while a black fishtail parka morphs values from the dandy and sports wardrobes. Patchworking appears throughout in a meeting between the Louis Vuitton Monogram and the Damier check rendered in denim.

The LVpatchwork is repeated in bags based on classic Louis Vuitton shapes: the tote, the keepall, and the money bag, adorned with animal charms familiar to the world of Nigo. A formal steel toe-cap derby cements the Mod spirit alongside a tasselled loafer in Monogram. The Damier check is interpreted in an ankle boot in suede Damier, a hiking boot in sporty Damier leather, a shearling boot in blown-up Damier or in denim, and a mule in the same motifs. Rectangular sunglasses feature trunk clip detailing while jewellery carries the LVlogo.

Nigo is the founder of the brand Human Made. He formerly founded the brand BAPE, and co-founded the brand Billionaire Boys Club.