Kim Jones, Louis Vuitton’s artistic director in charge of men’s ready-to-wear, has been to Thailand six times, including a visit to Chiang Rai, and it shows in his spring-summer collection, which bears some inspiration from the Lahu hilltribe.
One sporty red-white-and-blue shirt in particular is named the Embroidered Lahu Blouson.
Jones was in Bangkok last week to open a pop-up store at Siam Paragon, which will pop back down again this Sunday, so you have to hurry.
“This collection takes in all of Southeast Asia, and Thailand is a key area,” he said. Jones was quite taken with the outfits worn by the Lahu of the northern hills and by how “modern” they seemed for an ethnic group so steeped in the traditions of the past.
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A keen traveller – ably matching the spirit of Louis Vuitton, with its retail base in luggage – Jones has been with the firm since 2011 and, in the year before conceiving this collection, made his way through 15 countries.
The British-born designer was only three months old when he first ventured abroad – when his family visited Ecuador. There were childhood stays in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Botswana, as well as the Caribbean, between residences in London.
By age 14, Jones had decided he wanted a “creative” career and considered graphic art and photography before discovering he could “build a world around” fashion. He earned a master’s degree in men’s wear at London’s Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design.
He’s been developing clothing lines geared to travel ever since. “But rather than looking at one destination, this season I decided to look at travelling all round the world,” Jones said.
“The world traveller these days picks things up wherever he goes and makes them his own. In this collection we’re using many ideas and techniques from Southeast Asia – from Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. At the same time we wanted to look at how these styles are actually shared globally.
“Traditional Lahu clothing looks a lot like contemporary sportswear. Fashion is a language that reflects different cultures and ‘tribes’ globally, from New York, Tokyo and Bangkok to Paris, and Louis Vuitton is really a part of that.
“The key idea,” Jones said, “is using silk for men and things like animal prints, just giving a little bit of a youthful feel, but in a sophisticated way.”
The results include a pyjama shirt in printed silk, a slim scarf bearing a red crane or a blue panther, and match-up sneakers. There’s a satin T-shirt with a baseball motif that looks great with micro-textured slacks, and indigo-dyed cotton jeans and blended-twill trousers.
Wildlife prints adorn a satin “souvenir jacket” – embroidered cranes, birds of paradise, monkeys – and the blouson has embroidered stripes resembling the stitched and woven geometric patterns of Lahu clothing.
The collection, Jones emphasised, celebrates global similarities in style rather than differences. Traditional and contemporary ideas are transposed and transformed, from the mountains of Thailand to America’s Ivy League.
Jones looked at the ways people around the world identify themselves, from the jackets a tourist chooses as souvenirs to timeless luxury items. Vuitton strives to extend the “clothing remix”, he said.
Traditional, intricately striped Thai embroidery echoes contemporary sportswear along with the personalised stripes of the LV Monogram. In silhouette, the national costumes of Southeast Asia reflect the large volume of the American baseball jersey. Track pants are rendered in embroidered silk.
Light, organza-bonded leatherwear features taped seams, echoing utilitarian waterproofed clothing of the past, and it’s even reversible. Indigo provides the global, unifying colour in everything from the hand-dyed and sun-dried Kobe leather used in American flight jackets to silk-mix denims and printed silk parkas printed with “brushstroke” camouflage patterns.
Even the pearl accessories have been lavishly treated with indigo – while the pearl was still forming in the shell.
The Vuitton Monogram bag becomes lighter than ever thanks to new ultra-supple canvas. Textured Epi leather is used in footwear this season, as well as in the usual, structured maroquinerie. And Taiga leather has been reintroduced both for footwear and bags, adding another layer of texture.
The souvenir jacket incorporates a black leopard print, and Jones designed another one in a limited edition – five pieces exclusively made for sale in Thailand for Bt130,000 each – and they were all quickly sold.
Style means “knowing who you are”, he said. “It’s everything when you’re building identity. A designer is telling a story, right? He’s providing people with very special information – how I want to be seen, where I want to be right now, who I am.”
Jones pointed out that Vuitton is one of the biggest brands of its kind in the world, “looking at things that any man from 20 to 60 can wear. We do a lot of different collections in 12 years.
“The challenge is keeping your eye on what’s going on in the digital world and finding out how you can improve on that. Trends happen, after all, because journalists pick out certain things in different collections. The themes are concurrent with the seasons, because people have the same feelings and moods.
“I plan one season at a time. Continuity is very important to our customers, but at the same time they expect something fresh each season. I’ve been working for Louis Vuitton for five years and the way men shop today is very different from what it was then, which is cool!”
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