It’s certainly been a turbulent year, to say the least. But as we’ve slowly (and unsurely) made a return back to some sense of normality, there have been many iconic fashion moments. We present our top 5 most iconic fashion moments of 2021 below.
1. Virgil’s Final Louis Vuitton Show
We couldn’t kick off this list without looking at what is undeniably the most iconic fashion moment of the year – Virgil Abloh’s final Louis Vuitton show. As many of you may know already, Virgil Abloh passed away at 41 after being diagnosed with cardiac angiosarcoma, a rare form of cancer. We’ve dedicated an entire article to honouring the pioneer’s legacy, which can be found here.
The show, called “Virgil Was Here”, took place at Miami Marine Stadium and it changed course rapidly over the 53 hours between the announcement of his passing and the presentation itself. Originally, the show was intended to be a standard runway show for the Louis Vuitton SS22 menswear collection with a few new elements added. This was typical for Virgil, who constantly wanted to tweak his own work (as he did with the BTS variant of the FW21 show). Very quickly, however, the event became almost like a cultural final chapter and public funeral, as thousands of people attended to pay their respects to the creative genius.
The 82 looks featured in the show highlighted both the collection that was previously released on video in June 2021 as well as new pieces styled by Ibrahim Kamara. The show featured strongly coloured lights that switched between the colours of the rainbow — a symbol that Virgil used throughout his time at Louis Vuitton as a representation of unity.
The presentation concluded with a beautiful firework display as drones lit up the sky with a clear message ‘Virgil Was Here’ alongside some inspirational words from the man himself:
“There’s no limit. Life is so short that you can’t waste even a day subscribing to what someone thinks you can do versus knowing what you can do.”
The full 20-minute show can be watched below.
2.) Yeezy x Gap Collaboration
2021 has been a big year for partnerships. Maybe none more so than Gap’s collaboration with Kanye West (who famously worked at a Gap store in Chicago as a teenager), aptly named Yeezy Gap.
The 10-year deal was penned in 2020, but their first pieces were just released this year. The first items from the collection were puffers made of recycled nylon called ‘the Round jacket’, offered in blue, red and black – they cost $200 USD apiece. The second drop from the collection included cotton hoodies for both children and adults in six different colours (black, brown, tan, red, blue, and purple).
Mickey Drexler (former Gap CEO) said that the jacket made millions of dollars in sales in just one night. Similarly, the hoodie delivered the most sales in a single day in Gap.com’s history and that 70% of the customers who bought the hoodie were new to the brand. This is all despite the fact that all items were only available for pre-order.
I can’t say I’m a big fan of the jackets, but the hype behind the collaboration is undeniable. In fact, Yeezy Gap has been ranked as the number 1 collaboration of the year, with searches for both brands rising by 320% and 325% respectively. If that doesn’t scream hype, then I’m not sure anything does!
And here’s a fun fact: while terms of the deal were never disclosed, Kanye said that after signing with Gap, his net worth nearly doubled from $3.3 billion to $5 billion.
3. Pyer Moss Haute Couture Debut – A Homage To Black Inventors:
Kerby Jean-Raymond, the founder and creative director of fashion brand Pyer Moss, took the industry by storm and created history as he became the first black designer invited to show his collection at Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week (in its 150-year plus history). The show was postponed for 2 days due to torrential rain, but that didn’t stop the fans from flooding in when they got the chance. Jean-Raymond offered his Instagram followers 100 free tickets to his show on the day that it was finally able to go ahead – 9000 people responded.
Breaking away from the traditional notions of couture, the show paid homage to black inventors, who have been historically overlooked and forgotten. Jean-Raymond asserted “I didn’t want to do this like a regular collection, I wanted to do this like Sesame Street and Pixar,” as he enlisted the help of Hollywood costume designers and fabricators to create a truly memorable debut.
There were a total of 25 avant-garde looks – each one a tribute to a black invention. Models walked the runway wearing meticulously designed 3-D sculptures of these inventions which included the typewriter, the fridge, the telephone, peanut butter, traffic lights and ice cream cones – to name just a few.
The show took place at the Villa Lewaro in New York, adding yet another layer of cultural significance to the occasion as the estate belonged to the first black self-made female millionaire in the US — Madam CJ Walker. Jean-Raymond also invited Elaine Brown (the only woman to have led the Black Panther Party) to speak at the show.
Check out the show below.
4. Kim Kardashian’s Met Gala Outfit
At this point, Kim Kardashian has certainly cemented herself as a pop culture icon. She’s curated an aesthetic that millions try to emulate and her influence is undeniable.
Perhaps more traditionally known for bearing it all on the carpet, this year, Kim took a different direction. She made a grand entrance at the 2021 Met Gala 2021 without even showing her face as she arrived in a black Balenciaga look that covered up her entire body. The custom ensemble featured a long-sleeve turtleneck bodysuit worn under an oversized T-shirt dress with a long pleated train. The look was complete with a long pair of jersey gloves, jersey boots and a mask that covered her face and head. The only part of her that was visible was her long ponytail, so naturally, she paid a pretty penny ($10,000 to be exact, according to her hairstylist, Chris Appleton!)
She was accompanied by a man on the carpet who also had his face covered and wore black head to toe, whom some fans suspected was Kanye West (now her ex-husband). Actually, it was Demna Gvasalia – the creative director of Balenciaga. Supposedly it was Kanye who introduced Kim to Demna and was instrumental in the newly formed relationship between her and Balenciaga.
Kim has since been honoured with the Fashion Icon award at the 2021 People’s Choice Awards and we can’t help but wonder how much this iconic Met Gala fit had a part to play.
5. Lil Nas X Blood Shoes:
Whether it’s rocking a 3-in-1 gold Versace outfit to the Met Gala, an all-neon green fit at the American Music Awards or a dress at the BET Awards, Lil Nas X has certainly never been shy to make a fashion statement.
Earlier this year, Lil Nas collaborated with art collective MSCHF (pronounced “Mischief”) to produce 666 pairs of modified Nike Air Max 97s — but you know may them better as the ‘Satan Shoes’. They cost £740 a pair and sold out in minutes.
The red and black trainers, featured an inverted cross, a pentagram pendant on the tongue and had “Luke 10:18” (a reference to a Biblical verse about Satan’s fall from heaven) printed on the side of the toe box. The classic Nike air bubble was flooded with red ink and all 666 pairs contained a drop of human blood! According to MSCHF co-founder, Daniel Greenberg, the blood was donated by about six MSCHF employees. So don’t worry – nobody was harmed in the production of these shoes (we hope)!
The trainers coincided with the release of the music video for Lil Nas X’s song “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)”, in which Lil Nas slides down to hell on a stripper pole and gives Satan a lap dance before breaking his neck, stealing his horns and putting them on his own head.
The shoes caused quite a controversy, drawing criticisms from certain celebrities, politicians and religious communities. Furthermore, Nike sued MSCHF for copyright infringement since they never actually agreed to the shoe being made; the former accused the latter of making consumers believe that “Nike endorsed satanism”. MSCHF had to recall all orders for the shoes and offered customers full refunds.
But still, at least Satan himself was a fan as he can be seen wearing the controversial shoes in the aforementioned music video. Catch a glimpse for yourself below.
