The autumn menswear shows in Paris began this week with shock and hype: shock that Kim Jones was stepping down as men’s artistic director at Louis Vuitton, and hype generated by Off-White fashion house, which caused a near-ruckus of bumbags outside the Pompidou Centre on Wednesday morning.

Off-White was founded by Virgil Abloh, a 36-year-old architect, streetwear designer and DJ. Until recently, he was best known as the multi-hyphenate Instagram associate of Kanye West, for whom he has worked as an artistic director and cameo star in Keeping Up With The Kardashians.

Clashing prints at Off-White. Photograph: Corbis/Getty

The theme of the collection was business casual and teenagers grappling with the idea of adulthood, with much of the clothing halfway between tailoring and streetwear.

Highlights included models carrying jackets in dry cleaning bags and shirts not just buttoned incorrectly – something Balenciaga experimented with last season – but constructed that way, with buttons curving down to the right and edges poorly tucked in.

A model takes the business casual theme literally. Photograph: Corbis/Getty

Other shirts were deliberately creased, while lapels on blazers were popped to reveal fleece lining. To maximise the casual element, most of the models wore Nike trainers.

Elsewhere suits were loose, in pinstripe or worn over hoodies. The models walked with a sulk and those with straight hair wore it lank and greasy. The music echoed the theme, so the show opened with Weezer and closed with Tyler, the Creator, two acts who, though 20 years apart, both spoke to a trucluent generation trying to belong.

Shades of blue were scattered throughout the collection, mirroring the models’ deliberately sulky demeanour. Photograph: Corbis/Getty

Abloh used business casual – which has been in the ether in fashion for the past 12 months – to communicate something wider about teenagers, role models and acceptance.

Speaking to the Guardian during a model casting this week, he explained that his mood board was “dictated by how a young person sees themselves in a larger narrative of traditional menswear – what does a kid who is into sneakers wear if he needs to buy something formal?”

A nod to the bumbag. Photograph: Corbis/Getty

The answer is probably not Off-White, which is catwalk-expensive: even a recently launched, more affordable diffusion line priced T-shirts at slightly shy of £100. It’s a conundrum Abloh is trying to answer, at least aesthetically if not financially.

Rather than courting the traditional fashion world, Abloh designs for Instagram and for hypebeasts – and he clearly knows how to create a memorable image. His most recent ready-to-wear women’s show – a fun homage to Princess Diana in which Naomi Campbell walked the runway wearing cycling shorts – was one of the standout moments of the previous Paris fashion week.

Virgil Abloh strikes a pose at the end of the show. Photograph: Corbis/Getty

Despite Abloh’s striking show, news of the departure of Jones at Louis Vuitton will probably be the main talking point from Paris. Jones reinvigorated the brand’s menswear line for a younger, hipper generation while retaining some of the heritage elements (see last year’s collaboration with Supreme).

Rumours are swirling that Jones may replace Bailey at Burberry. There is also speculation about who will replace Jones, with Abloh believed to be a key contender.