Remembering Virgil Abloh

By Gordon Powers ‘23

Virgil Abloh, founder of brand Off-White and the first Black artistic director at Louis Vuitton for menswear, died of cancer at age 41 this past Sunday. The young creative expanded the fashion world to appeal to millions outside of its usual audience, popularizing his brand and art through social media and relationships with pop culture icons. Tributes filled Instagram, Twitter, and other online media sources, as Abloh had a reach that extended far beyond the insular world of high fashion. 

Starting out as an intern at Fendi in 2009 with rapper Kanye West, the fashion designer had success due to his multidimensional creative style that resulted in numerous collaborations with diverse brands. As he told GQ in 2019, Virgil Abloh had an eye for "what feels now," working with West on Yeezus (2014) album art, and merch for The Life of Pablo (2016). Nike asked the creator to remake "ten iconic silhouettes", worn by celebrities like Roger Federer, prompting GQ to call the Off-White Nike collab the official shoes of celebrities. The yellow construction style Off-White Industrial Belt flooded the streets of major cities in 2017 and 2018, cementing the hype around Off-White's streetwear style. Other collaborations with brands such as eyeglasses company Warby Parker, luggage-maker Rimowa, and Evian water emphasized the varied artistic interests of the creative, as well as his relationship with popular Japanese artist Takashi Murakami. The pair, both icons of their respective artistic worlds, collaborated on a work merging the Off-White logo with popular characters from Murakami's work. 

 His immense creativity and novel understanding of fashion's place in art aside, Virgil Abloh had close relationships with key figures who advanced the acceptance of his work into modern fashion canon. At Hailey Bieber's wedding to singer Justin Bieber, the bride wore a gown designed by Abloh, with the words "TILL DEATH DO US PART" written on the edge of the train. At the 2019 Golden Globes, Timothée Chalamet's infamous Abloh-designed Louis Vuitton Beaded Mid-Layer harness kicked off a menswear trend. The designer saw a space in the celebrity-world to present his work for millions to appreciate, and did not contain himself to one area of fashion. 

 Virgil Abloh's connection to Off-White and Louis Vuitton meant the two brands had special tributes after his passing. 

The Off-White website's front page highlighted Abloh's passion for youth who were just getting started on their journey in the fashion world, describing "his mission to open doors for others and create pathways for greater equality in art and design", as well as his own quote that 'Everything I do is for the 17-year-old version of myself." His focus on future generations entering the marketplace certainly hit home with the number of tributes from Gen Z on social media. 

A show of the Spring/Summer 2022 Louis Vuitton menswear collection that Virgil Abloh designed was due to take place in Miami on November 30, 2021, two days after his passing. The show, originally conceived as a companion to the ritzy Art Basel Miami, became a fitting tribute to Abloh attended by many of his dear friends and colleagues like Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, and Rihanna. A voiceover from the designer read that the collection's goal was "getting adults to behave like children again" so that "they stop using their minds and start using their imagination." The show had dozens of looks, with models donning colorful traveling clothes, symbolic of youth forging their path into adulthood, playfully visualizing Abloh's own feelings about the power of newness in fashion. An animated light display wrote "Virgil was here" at the end of the show while a hot-air balloon floated up into the sky. There was perhaps no greater way to mark the death of the artist with a grand show opening up fashion to new generations of creatives.