Virgil Abloh curates a number of photographers to build a bildungsroman for male adolescents that avoids toxic masculinity the same way Frank Ocean infiltrated mainstream music with queer sensibilities.
In my time, we still praised men equipped with anxious angers. Boys were badgered to be startling straight. Boys couldn’t access feelings unless they were screamed through lyrics by Fall Out Boy or Green Day. You see, while most girls had Sofia Coppola films and photos from Holga cameras wrapped in handwritten text, the teenage culture still piggybacked off the nostalgia of John Hughes films. Otherwise, you fed into High School Musical. The death of the hipster hadn’t occurred. We still loved things in Sepia tones in our 1:1 ratio.
But boredom still exists. It will always be there, but in Abloh’s curation, we see it in skateboards and bike tricks, in rock band thrills and fashion, LV especially prominent.
You see, back in my day, boredom resulted in violence. Bullies bullied because they were bored. Boys picked fights, physical debates deciding alphas and betas in toxic tribes.
“Hurt people hurt people.” — Greenberg, Baumbach
But in this exhibition, we see peace. We see boys hugging boys. Laughter and smiles. Community. Frank Ocean bent boys’ knees in prayer to feelings through Channel Orange. He captured the late night gray area between the life and death of a party, where joy and sadness hold hands in tender touch, tender time. A time where boys drop their guards and treat girls better. Then, Blonde curbed everything, frictioning feels for boys to feel even more. The Tony Hawk days obliged boys to dye their hair an Aryan blonde. Now, an Evan Mock hot pink can be rocked without slurs.
You can build a critique on how Virgil Abloh is responsible for the erasure between couture and street style, but elites are furious because it’s an erasure of social class. Or, at least, visible social class. Blurring the boundaries between street and runway is merely a stepping stone in the future of fashion: accessibility for all.
Now, the aspect ratio is beyond a stiff square. More than ever, accessibility for all is the reason why youths should fight for their rights. Go green. Go vote. Go make art. You have all the platforms. Unlike any other time, being creative is at your fingertips.
Trust me, you could not have monetized your Myspace or Tumblr. Join the resale market. Vlog it all. Make social differences among your peers through all your mediums. Open discussions. Be respectful. Listen to all viewpoints. Except this one by Newsweek. If you want to know how to write an article that fails, there it is. Stop other-ing people in dumb comparisons. Bridge age gaps, generations. Bridge all opinions and lifestyles.
The exhibition is free upon reservation. It’s one of the best feelings in the world. To be greeted by LV staff without the pressure of watchful eyes or the literal deflation of your wallet. You can simply go up to the fourth floor and see the exhibit.
Upon entering, staff will check your reservation and gift you a sticker. Once you’re done, you can pick up a poster collaged of exhibit photographs. There are about 18–20 different selections to choose from.
Louis Vuitton Maison (Seoul)
454 Apgujeong-ro, Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
mon — sat, 11.00–20.00
sun, 12.00–20.00
Reservations can be made here.
