Virgil is the fashion zeitgeist right now, and whether he’s aware of it or not, he’s firmly at the wheel. The invitation for today’s show arrived as a plastic-wrapped bejeweled white glove — a hat tip to the collection’s main inspiration, Michael Jackson. The show took place on a theatre-set backdrop of Ludlow Street in New York’s Lower East Side neighborhood, replete with storefronts and cobblestones. Here, Abloh managed no small feat; he made the experience of a major Louis Vuitton show feel intimate.

It was more like a happening than a show, with live music (courtesy of Blood Orange’s Dev Hynes) as well as live graffiti. It was in this way that we entered into Abloh’s seductive universe. He is more than aware of the sum of his parts, and if anybody can reboot the sparkly glove longterm then Virgil is he. Jackson’s message was one of inclusivity, and he was never shy of his desire to save the world. Abloh has always been a frontrunner when it comes to inclusivity, and he continued with maps in the show notes, illustrating the models’ birthplaces — ‘We Are the World’ for today.

One model, who was the spitting image of a young Michael Jackson, wore a purple silk outfit and weaved his way in and out of the other models as they walked the runway. He stopped and paused, leaning against one of the faux lampposts before exiting. He reappeared for the finale, backflipping his way through the set, looking equal parts bewildered and assured —the perfect analogy for Jackson as well as Abloh, a young artist in his prime about to unleash his vision onto the world.