Published
Mon, Oct 3, 2022, 20:15
- The luxury brand's new spring line, inspired by Mancuso's Loft parties, shows zero understanding of the gathering, the writer wrote in a recent essay.
Tim Lawrence, author of several books on the history of dance music culture in New York, has published an essay rebuking Louis Vuitton for exploiting David Mancuso's principles.
In July, the luxury house unveiled a pre-spring 2023 collection called Fall In Love, described as an ode to the iconic New York figure and his legendary Loft party that turned 52 this year. Lawrence, who became closely acquainted with Mancuso while writing Love Saves the Day: A History of American Dance Music Culture, 1970-1979, criticised the brand for inaccurate interpretations of Mancuso's ethos.
The Loft represents "the absolute inverse of everything Louis Vuitton stands for," Lawrence wrote in an essay published on his website. Mancuso, who died in 2016, would have found the fashion house's collection "problematic" and would have never accepted money in return for using his name in a clothing range, Lawrence continued.
A significant chunk of the essay disputed Louis Vuitton's claim that the brand and Mancuso share the same set of social values. "The real problem lies in LV's claim to share David's concern with egalitarianism," Lawrence wrote. "This is a deeply embarrassing claim that would have been offensive to David and must offend anyone who formed a deep connection with David and the Loft."
Whereas Louis Vuitton is a for-profit enterprise, Mancuso embraced a value system that deeply opposed materialism and capitalism, the essay described. The price of entry in the Loft's formative years was just $2, which increased to $12.99—an amount that covered basic operating costs—by the late 1970s. "I tried to create a situation in which there was no economic inequality," Mancuso once told Lawrence, who notes the former would have never accepted any form of sponsorship.
On an aesthetic level, the collection is also disconnected with the Loft's principles, Lawrence said. Louis Vuitton's use of music notes, grease-effect paint motifs, bird prints and a canvas bag "that could conceivably hold five 12-inch singles rather than the 200-300 David would haul with him at great effort and discomfort during the late-in-life instances when he wasn't able to host parties in his own home" felt simplistic and has no relation to the party, Lawrence said.
The essay also discussed the role of Virgil Abloh, who designed Fall In Love. It's unclear whether the creative finalised his vision for the clothes and the press material accompanying them since he passed away before the collection was completed, Lawrence noted.
RA has reached out to Louis Vuitton for comment. Read the full essay on Lawrence's website.