When it comes to acronym combinations, this is the best one we’ve encountered so far: LVxNBA. Louis Vuitton unveils a three-year partnership with the National Basketball Association. The collaboration’s tip-off is a menswear capsule collection, part of Vuitton’s Spring-Summer 2021 presentation.

You must also take a moment for the Larry O’Brien Trophy presented to the Los Angeles Lakers in a custom Louis Vuitton Trophy Travel Case.

“Fashion muses aren’t predictable. Ideas of luxury can be found in the sports world and its champions as much as in traditional forms of artistry. This collection celebrates the cultural contribution of basketball and its diverse characters, and the idea of relatability as a force of unity today,” says Virgil Abloh.

The artistic director of Louis Vuitton gives a nod to how basketball heroes are also style icons. See Shaquille O’Neal’s suits, Dennis Rodman’s off-court fashion statements, and Michael Jordan’s influence over sneaker culture.

The LVxNBA pieces are designed with a basketball player’s lifestyle in mind, using three key events: travel, pre-game, and post-game.

Being always on the road means grey cashmere tracksuits adorned with graphics informed by the lines of a basketball. Game arrivals manifest in a blue hooded leather jacket, Monogram jeans, and t-shirts. Suits and dress shirts meet the press conference dress code.

When it comes to details, you will notice the NBA logos play with the classic Louis Vuitton motifs. Spot the infinite houndstooth pattern used in tailoring now with the iconic NBA figure. The NBA logo also appears on a varsity jacket featuring the LV initials on the back.

When it comes to accessories, Louis Vuitton’s bag silhouettes take on a baller twist: a multi-pocket backpack in the classic Monogram with white contrast straps, a Christopher backpack and the Nil messenger interpreted through the NBA lens, and a Keepall features a netted side detail evocative of a basketball hoop.

Shoes meld the insignia of Louis Vuitton and NBA in classic loafers, chunky-soled leather derbies, slip-ons, and in lace-up leather boots fused with components from existing sneakers; each recognizable by the new LVxNBA emblem embossed on the foot-bed.

Fashion jewelry employs NBA logos as pendants in an ongoing conversation between sports and craftmanship.