Virgil Abloh

Known for being the creator of the famous streetwear brand, Off-White, Virgil Abloh was also the fashion director of Louis Vuitton men. He died of cancer on November 28th at the age of 41.

I suggest to discover a bit more this incredible figure of the fashion industry.

After studies in architecture he opened a shop in Chicago and started collaborating with rappers like Kanye West and Jay-Z. In 2012, he founded Pyrex Vision which became Off-White, a brand with which he made a name in the industry thanks to his creative use of streetwear and pop references.

In 2018, the LVMH group keeps an eye on his work and thinks about refreshing the Louis Vuitton men’s clothing section. Virgil Abloh is nominated "artistic director of Louis Vuitton’s men’s collections" and became one of the most popular figures of the fashion world.

Combining streetwear inspirations, designer spirit while keeping the luxurious know-how of LV was quite of a challenge. He has been able to attract a younger audience, rushing to every event he organised and laughing at his basketball-inspired sneakers and checkered bags in pop versions.

Under his own name or with Off-White, he multiplied projects and collaborations with consumer brands (Ikea, Nike, Evian) and luxury brands (Rimowa, Baccarat, Mercedes).

While he was often criticised because he didn't study fashion, but was very present in the media, he replied in Le Figaro interview "I find it shocking that someone could tell me that I'm not a designer. Who can say that one clothe is fashionable, and another is not? My haters think they are talking about me, but behind me there is a whole generation of young talent, who are making fashion that they call streetwear. The fact that I am one of the only black designers at the head of a big house says a lot about the situation. I am speaking on the subject because I do not want a young designer with the same skin color and the same path as me to feel that this industry is not for him".

This message was loud and clear for LVMH who announced few weeks later a stronger collaboration with Virgil Abloh, as the group becomes majority shareholder of Off-White. On Tuesday, November 30 he planned to organise a fashion show for his spring-summer 2022 collection in Miami. The cancer he was fighting for years cut the plan.

In loving memory of the designer, Louis Vuitton paid tribute to the life and legacy of a creative genius with a presentation of this collection, on the date he planned, with the famous message "Virgil was here" written with drones in the sky of Florida.

Bernard Arnaud, CEO of LVMH said “We are shocked by this terrible news. Virgil was not only a genius designer, a visionary, he was also a beautiful soul and a man of great wisdom. The whole family LVMH joins me in saying its deep sadness. We all think of those who loved him, who lost a husband, a father, a brother, a friend today. "

To one of the biggest fashion source of inspiration,

mentioned so many times in my articles

J.