Creative and visionary minds are everywhere, and to give opportunities to these minds to actively explore and go through the non-conventional paths in fashion means opening doors to a whole new way of thinking, wearing, and creating fashion. Virgil Abloh was one of those visionaries; the architect-turned-designer born and raised in Rockford, Illinois, influenced a whole generation of young adults who identified not only with his brand, but with an agitated universe that mixed music, streetwear, and contemporary art.
He is the founder of the streetwear label Off-White and Louis Vuitton’s Men’s Artistic Director, and he died on November 28, 2021, after a private battle with cardiac angiosarcoma, a rare form of cancer. Today, we’ll take a closer look at Virgil’s life and work, and how his legacy changed fashion as we know it.
virgil’s background
Raised by Ghanaian immigrant parents, he graduated in civil engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and soon later got a master’s degree in architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology. By the mid-2000s, Abloh started interning at ‘Fendi’ in Rome, and in 2013 found ‘Off-White’, a Milan-based multi-platform brand that aimed to become a bridge between streetwear and luxury fashion.
He has collaborated with many influential figures and companies, such as Takashi Murakami, Jimmy Choo, IKEA and Nike. In 2018, Abloh was named the artistic director of ‘Louis Vuitton’s menswear collections’, and the impact that such nomination had was massive – not only because he was chosen to lead a storied house, but also because he was the first black artistic director for the brand.
work and impact on fashion
Virgil’s last collection for Louis Vuitton – the Spring/Summer 2022 Menswear Collection – explored the transcultural mixture found in many subcultures that inspires fashion nowadays, breaking gender norms by thinking the design of the pieces in the most human way possible.
At the same time, Off-White’s Fall 2022 Ready-to-Wear Collection felt, in a way, like a goodbye, but also a celebration of one of the best collections Abloh’s ever created. With the participation of many celebrities on and off the runway, the show indicated what path Off-White was aiming to follow, breaking into its adult era and bringing back what the brand was actually always about – showing how to step into an industry that still struggles to become inclusive and that was never really interested in claiming people like Virgil.
The legacy that Virgil holds, especially regarding his position as a black artistic director working in luxury fashion, gives us an opportunity to question if the fashion industry is really committed to open its doors to all of those who want to showcase their point of view of the world they live in. Because now, it’s way bigger than a brand’s reputation or credibility. It’s about risk-taking and thinking forward.
Virgil Abloh is a figure to be remembered, and his impact will remain forever as a rich source of inspiration for the next generations.
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The article above was written by Alice Nakao and edited by Marina Ponchio. Liked this type of content? Check out Her Campus Casper Libero for more!