Following his unexpected death on Sunday after a private struggle with a rare form of cancer, fashion house Louis Vuitton paid tribute to legendary designer Virgil Abloh at its Spring-Summer 2022 men's collection fashion show.‍

The 1,500 guests event celebrated the life of Abloh in a show that was supposed to be one of many more to come from one of the greatest designers of our time. It also presented an opportunity for Abloh's family, friends, collaborators, fans and colleagues to remember a man who was considered a hero and an art-house legend by many.

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Though the show was a spin-off of a collection originally presented by video in June, it offered a staggering and grandiose production which featured a paper plane sculpture; supposedly an Ablohian symbol of the power of imagination, an LV branded hot air balloon, and a huge 30-foot rainbow sculpture of Abloh holding an LV-branded vinyl record case with sunglass-clad eyes looking into the sky.

Louis Vuitton's chairman and CEO Michael Burke honoured Abloh by remembering his impact on not only the brand but for fashion and culture in general.

"Virgil was not only a friend, great collaborator, creative genius, visionary and disruptor, but also one of the best cultural communicators of our times, he said.

Burke revealed that Abloh had been planning the show until the end. "It was the wish of Virgil's wife, Shannon, and his family that tonight's show and the concert went ahead," he said.

"And I am deeply grateful to everyone here that we have honoured that wish. The last time that I spoke with Virgil was on Saturday evening. He talked with passion about the finer details of the show; the symbolism of the paper plane and the balloons, the sequencing of the collection looks, the concert we are about to experience. He had imagined it all, and he was distraught not to be here to share it with us in person", Burke added.

A Star Studded send off

Among the attendees at the show were Abloh's famous friends from the ultra-famous consiglieres (Kanye West, Pharrell Williams, A$AP Rocky, Bella Hadid) to his collaborators; (Matthew Williams, Kunle Martins, Don C, Nigo) and many more.

Don C, the Chicago designer who accompanied Abloh on his first trip to Paris Fashion Week in 2012 described the event as a regular Virgil event except that Virgil was missing.

As the event wrapped, Abloh had one final message for the assembled: "There's no limit," he said over fading music. "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."

Where Abloh would normally take his bow, his Paris-based studio team, many in tears, walked together down the runway. Fireworks lit up the sky over the water, and when they fell silent many attendees remained in their seats - and there and then, they all knew he would rest in eternal peace.

Rest in peace Virgil Abloh