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Virgil Abloh, the acclaimed menswear designer for Louis Vuitton and founder and CEO of Off-White, died Sunday of cancer, according to a post from his verified Instagram account. He was 41.
“We are devastated to announce the passing of our beloved Virgil Abloh, a fiercely devoted father, husband, son, brother, and friend. He is survived by his loving wife Shannon Abloh, his children Lowe Abloh and Grey Abloh, his sister Edwina Abloh, his parents Nee and Eunice Abloh, and numerous dear friends and colleagues,” the post read.
“For over two years, Virgil valiantly battled a rare, aggressive form of cancer, cardiac angiosarcoma. He chose to endure his battle privately since his diagnosis in 2019, undergoing numerous challenging treatments, all while helming several significant institutions that span fashion, art, and culture.”
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Virgil Abloh pictured outside an event in Paris in July this year.
Abloh was a true multi-hyphenate – first, and foremost a fashion designer, who before making history as Louis Vuitton’s first Black artistic director, founded the cult streetwear label Off-White.
At Louis Vuitton, he brought in a younger demographic, with menswear collections that blurred the lines between high fashion and streetwear, as well as pushed artistic boundaries and challenged gender norms. A sparkly “embroidered bib” he designed, for example, became an instant talking point when it was worn by Timothée Chalamet to the Golden Globes in 2019. Other versions were donned by Michael B. Jordan and Chadwick Boseman.
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From his history-making work at Louis Vuitton as men's artistic director to unexpected partnerships with Mercedes Benz and artist Takashi Murakami, here's a look back at some of Virgil Abloh's best designs and collaborations. (Pictured: Abloh at the 2021 Met Gala "Celebrating In America: A Lexicon Of Fashion" at Metropolitan Museum of Art on September 13, 2021.
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At the 2019 Golden Globes, Timothee Chalamet instantly went viral when he appeared on the red carpet wearing a black sparkling Louis Vuitton harness.
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At the 2018 Met Gala, Abloh dressed and accompanied model Kendall Jenner in a trailing jumpsuit by his brand Off-White. The year's theme was "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & The Catholic Imagination"' and Abloh's white suit featured religious panels designed to look like cathedral stained-glass windows, alongside a pair of blue and white sneakers.
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Virgil Abloh was announced as Louis Vuitton's men's artistic director in 2018 and debuted his first collection that same year, releasing a Spring-Summer 2019 collection. Featuring celebrity models like Kid Cudi and Playboi Carti, he brought his vast experience of streetwear to the house and dressed attendee Rihanna; seen here alongside the designer in a white Louis Vuitton ensemble.
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At one of his last fashion shows for Louis Vuitton, Abloh combined his love of architecture and fashion in a series of adventurous skyline puffer jackets. For his Fall-Winter 2021-22 collection, he paid homage to Paris where the show was held with a jacket covered in the city's landmarks including the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur cathedral among others.
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Throughout his career, the Ghanaian-American designer reinterpreted the American flag in Louis Vuitton collections and through art. The motif appeared frequently in his 2019 Fall-Winter Menswear collection for LV, which was inspired heavily by Michael Jackson, with this desaturated pleated outfit holding court as one of its best pieces. He and Japanese artist Takashi Murakami also reintepreted the flag in a collaborative artwork in 2018 for the Gagosian and the flag also appeared as early as 2013 in his works, with A$AP Rocky draped in it for his black and white album cover for "Long.Live.A$AP" created by Abloh.
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One of Abloh's greatest legacies will be his contribution to the world of footwear, with his long-standing collaborations with Nike setting the standard for innovative sneakers. Featuring Off-White's signature red security tag and tongue-in-cheek quotes, a range of rare sneakers he created called "The Ten" are especially prized by collectors. One of them can be seen above.
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Cloud-prints and futuristic face shields made an appearance at Virgil Abloh's Fall-Winter 2020-21 collection for Louis Vuitton, where models walked through a dreamy setting in blue and white outfits.
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Abloh, who was also a prolific DJ, was deeply tied to the world of music and worked with many major players on their album covers. Kanye West was one of his most frequent collaborators with his album covers for "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy," and "Yeezus" designed by Abloh. Kid Cudi and Jay-Z were also known to have worked closely with Abloh.
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In Louis Vuitton's Fall-Winter 2021 collection, Abloh paid tribute to his Ghanaian heritage with this black and white Kente cloth design. The traditional garment, which is typically woven in bright colors, was given a monochrome makeover by Abloh and later worn by John Boyega at the 2021 Critics' Choice Awards where the actor won for Best Actor in a Limited Series.
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At the 2017 CMT Music Awards, Nicole Kidman deviated from her usual style in a black lacy dress by Off-White. The lingerie-inspired piece featured artful cut-outs and was paired with black heels at the event, where she joined her husband Keith Urban for the show.
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Rainbow brights brought color to Virgil Abloh's Spring-Summer 2022 collection for Louis Vuitton, with Abloh transforming the brand's classic luggage silhouettes into technicolor dreams.
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Abloh designed this Off-White x Nike tutu that tennis player Serena Williams wore to the 2018 US Open. Williams wore a lavender and black version of the outfit.
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Abloh pushed the boundaries of gender throughout his later work, bringing in skirts for men in his 2021 shows. One of the designer's most talked about moments was his longtime collaborator Kid Cudi's appearance on "Saturday Night Live" in April this year, when the rapper appeared wearing a floral dress designed by Off-White in tribute to singer Kurt Cobain, who famously wore a similar gown.
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Virgil Abloh dabbled in the art world from time to time and joined forces with Japanese artist Takashi Murakami for a special 2018 "Technicolor 2" exhibition at the Gagosian, releasing artworks which combined Off-White's logo, signature quote details and more with Murakami's multicolor works. The pair also collaborated on other Gagosian exhibits, including "future history" and "American TOO."
IKEA
Fashion wasn't the only domain Abloh aimed to shake up, as his unexpected collaboration with Ikea saw his pieces sell out instantly. From a brown paper twist on the brand's blue bags to a grey rug printed with the words "Keep Off," he even blew up an Ikea receipt and transformed it into a carpet.
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Hailey Bieber, a longtime fan of Abloh's, turned to the designer for one of the most significant dresses of her life: her wedding gown. The off-shoulder lace gown with its swooping back is believed to be the only wedding gown Abloh ever created and he snuck one of his design hallmarks into her trailing power veil, embroidering the words "Till Death Do Us Part" along its train.
Famous for cross-collaborations, one of Abloh’s greatest legacies was his contribution to the world of footwear – setting the standard for innovative sneakers, in edition after edition of Off-White x Nike designs.
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Kanye West and Virgil Abloh pose after the Louis Vuitton Menswear Spring-Summer 2019 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on June 21, 2018 in Paris, France.
He was also big in the world of music, and as a prolific DJ, played at music venues around the world. As a longstanding collaborator of Kanye West, now known as Ye, he worked as a creative director for the rapper’s design agency Donda, and designed some of Ye’s album covers. As an artist and furniture designer, he collaborated with the likes of Mercedes Benz on an art concept car and IKEA on a coveted range aimed at people moving into their first homes.
Tributes poured in overnight for the late designer, who was one of fashion’s most powerful Black men, in an industry that notoriously lacks diversity. Harlem couturier Daniel Day, known as Dapper Dan, spoke to the point in an Instagram post, writing “Virgil’s life was a testament to how much Black Lives Matter by showing what black lives are capable of.
“His march took him to the top of luxury fashion. Virgil started out as a foot soldier but died a general.”
British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful called him “a giant among men,” on Instagram, writing that Abloh always worked “to open the door to art and fashion for future generations, so that that they – unlike himself, would grow up in a creative world with people to mirror themselves in.”
01:59 - Source: CNN
Virgil Abloh reveals his design philosophy at 2016 Design Miami
Models Gigi Hadid and Hailey Bieber also took to social media, with the latter writing that Abloh was “a once in a generation creative mind,” who altered the way she looked at street style and fashion. Accompanying the Instagram post was a photo of Bieber with Abloh, who custom-designed her lace wedding dress in 2019.
Poet Amanda Gorman, who wore a vibrant garment designed by Abloh for her Vogue cover in May, wrote that she was “privileged” to have met him and to have worn “such a beautiful piece designed in honor of your grandmother.
“I knew then I was experiencing the honor of wearing a designer whose work transcends both past and present.”
The luxury group LVMH, which owns Louis Vuitton, tweeted about his death and, in a statement, quoted LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault: “We are all shocked after this terrible news. Virgil was not only a genius designer, a visionary, he was also a man with a beautiful soul and great wisdom.”
LVMH had accquired a majority stake in Off-White this July in an agreement that all sides hoped would begin a new chapter.
“I’m also honored to use this partnership to deepen my longstanding commitment to expand opportunities for diverse individuals and foster greater equity and inclusion in the industries we serve,” Abloh said at the time. “This is an incredible new platform to take the disruption we’ve achieved together to a whole new level.”
Abloh, the son of Ghanaian immigrants, was born in 1980 in Rockford, Illinois. He earned a degree in civil engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and completed a master’s degree in architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology; a foundation that would later influence his broader practice.
“My career trajectory started in design in a more traditional multidisciplinary sense, within architecture and engineering before I (started in) fashion,” he told CNN in a 2020 interview.
“I look at my work as metaphoric – what can exist in different disciplines of design, how you can form a new design language, and engage a younger audience, across icons, using some different techniques and investigations.”
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On June 21, 2018 Virgil Abloh showed his first collection as artistic director of Louis Vuitton menswear.
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Abloh is the first African-American to hold the post at the brand, and one of few Black designers to lead a Parisian house.
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The collection was modeled by a mix of Abloh's friends and professionals.
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Abloh mixed street influences with tailoring, her transformed everyday staples into luxury items.
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The show celebrated individuality and diversity.
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"These new designers take a hold of houses that have their identities, but bring a newness to them that I think is a great thing," said Guido Palau, who led the hair direction for the show.
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"Virgil Abloh helming the august house of Louis Vuitton is momentous in fashion as it represents a new embrace of youth and streetwear, a move away from dusty notions of luxury and what many view as elitist," Hintmag.com editor-in-chief Lee Carter said of the show.
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Before joining Louis Vuitton, Abloh made his name at his own label, Off-White.
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The show was attended by countless celebrities, including Kanye West (a long-time friend), Rihanna, A$AP Rocky, Naomi Campbell, Alexander Skarsgård and Victor Cruz
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Kanye West congratulates Virgil Abloh after the show.
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Kim Kardashian, Kanye West and Virgil Abloh after the show.
Abloh was named among Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2018, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago presented an exhibition of the work of “genre-bending artist and designer” in 2019.
Before his untimely death, he was working on plans for a Louis Vuitton fashion show in Miami, Florida, to coincide with the opening of a new men’s store in the city. A presentation of his Spring-Summer 2022 collection will go ahead at 5.30pm ET on Tuesday November 30, according to an update posted from Louis Vuitton’s official Twitter account.