Virgil Abloh facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Virgil Abloh
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Abloh in 2019
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| Born | September 30, 1980 Rockford, Illinois, U.S.
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| Died | November 28, 2021 (aged 41) |
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| Years active | 2011–2021 |
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) |
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| Spouse(s) |
Shannon Sundberg
(m. 2009) |
| Children | 2 |
Virgil Abloh (September 30, 1980 – November 28, 2021) was an American fashion designer and entrepreneur. He was the artistic director for Louis Vuitton's menswear. This role began in 2018. In 2021, he gained more creative duties across the LVMH brand. Abloh was also the chief executive officer of Off-White. He started this fashion brand in Milan, Italy, in 2013.
Virgil Abloh was trained as an architect. He also worked in Chicago street fashion. His journey into global fashion began with an internship at Fendi in 2009. There, he worked alongside American rapper Kanye West. This partnership helped launch Abloh's career. He later founded Off-White. Abloh was the first African-American to be an artistic director at a major French luxury fashion house. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2018. His design style mixed streetwear with luxury clothing. The New York Times called his style "transformative." The BBC described him as an inspiring figure.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Virgil Abloh was born on September 30, 1980. His birthplace was Rockford, Illinois. His parents were immigrants from Ghana. His mother was a seamstress, and his father managed a paint company. Virgil learned how to sew from his mother. He grew up in Rockford and finished Boylan Catholic High School in 1998.
In 2002, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He then got his Master of Architecture from the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) in 2006. While at IIT, a building designed by architect Rem Koolhaas was being built on campus. Koolhaas had also worked on fashion shows for Prada. This sparked Abloh's interest in fashion. While studying architecture, he designed T-shirts. He also wrote about fashion and design for a popular blog called The Brilliance. Abloh first met musician Kanye West at a Chicago print shop.
Career Journey
Early Career: 2009–2013
After college, Abloh interned at Fendi in 2009. He was in the same class as rapper Kanye West. They worked in the company's office in Rome, Italy. There, they started working together. During this time, Louis Vuitton's CEO, Michael Burke, noticed Abloh. Later that year, Abloh and West's partner, Don C, opened a store called RSVP Gallery in Chicago. The store was known for its mix of fashion. Its design reflected Abloh's style. A year later, West made Abloh the creative director of his agency, Donda.
In 2011, West asked Abloh to be the artistic director for the Jay-Z/West album Watch the Throne. In 2012, Abloh designed the cover art for WZRD’s first album. Also in 2012, Abloh started his first company, Pyrex Vision. He bought old Ralph Lauren clothes for $40. He then printed designs on them and sold them for over $550. He closed the company a year later. He saw it as an art project, not a business.
Off-White and Big Success: 2013–2017
Streetwear is often seen as cheap. My goal has been to add a smart side to it and make it respected.
In 2013, Abloh started his first fashion house, Off-White. It was a high-end streetwear brand. Its logo was inspired by Ben Kelly. The company was based in Milan, Italy. Abloh described Off-White as "the gray area between black and white." He got help from the New Guards Group to launch his brand.
Abloh said his first Off-White collection was inspired by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's glass home, Farnsworth House. He also included ideas from the artist Caravaggio and the German design school The Bauhaus. The brand quickly became popular. It started in Paris and spread to China, Japan, and the U.S. Off-White clothes are known for using quotation marks, zip-ties, capital letters, and barricade tape. In 2014, he launched the company's women's wear line. He showed these collections at Paris Fashion Week. His line was a finalist for the LVMH Prize, a big industry award. Abloh opened his first Off-White store in Tokyo, Japan. There, he also started the company's furniture line, Grey Area.
Off-White and Cool Collaborations: 2013–2018
By the end of 2018, Off-White was ranked as the hottest fashion brand in the world. It even passed Gucci. Virgil also worked with the Swedish furniture company IKEA. He designed furniture for homes and tote bags with the word "SCULPTURE" on them. This collection was called Markerad, a Swedish word meaning "clear-cut." It came out in 2019. Virgil wanted the collection to have useful furniture with modern designs.
In 2017, Nike asked him to design a new collection called "The Ten." He redesigned many of Nike's best-selling shoes. Abloh sketched out basic furniture pieces for IKEA. He then added his unique style, like using a doorstop to make furniture items uneven. He designed chairs, coffee tables, beds, storage cabinets, mirrors, and carpets for IKEA. Abloh used quotation marks to show a feeling of being separate from society. In 2017, Abloh worked with artist Jenny Holzer. They created a clothing line that highlighted the good parts of immigration, cultural integration, and global connections.
Louis Vuitton: 2018–2021
On March 25, 2018, Abloh became the artistic director of Louis Vuitton's menswear line. This made him the first person of African descent to lead the brand's menswear. He was also one of the few black designers leading a major French fashion house. He said it was an honor to take the job. He wanted to use the brand's history and creativity while connecting it to modern times.
Abloh showed his first collection for Louis Vuitton at the 2018 Men's Fashion Week. It was held at the Palais-Royal gardens in Paris. Rihanna was the first famous person to wear Abloh's designs before this important show. Many artists like Playboi Carti, Steve Lacy, A$AP Nast, Dev Hynes, and Kid Cudi walked the runway for his first Vuitton show. Abloh's designs were in high demand. He created a special outfit for Serena Williams to wear at the 2018 US Open. This was a collaboration with Nike.
On June 5, 2018, Abloh released a special clear suitcase with Rimowa. In March 2019, Abloh worked with Ikea again. They made furniture for young adults, including cabinets, rugs, coffee tables, and chairs. Abloh added his style, like quotation marks on clothes and furniture. For example, he put a doorstop on a chair leg to make it uneven. One of his most popular items was the Frakta Bag. It was beige with "SCULPTURE" printed on it. In March 2019, Abloh teamed up with SSENSE for a workout collection. It included leggings, sports bras, sweaters, and crop tops. The collection featured Off-White's yellow sign and his four-way arrow cross design.
"I now have a platform to change the industry . . . We’re designers, so we can start a trend, we can highlight issues, we can make a lot of people focus on something or we can cause a lot of people to focus on ourselves. . . I’m not interested in (the latter). I’m interested in using my platform as one of a very small group of African-American males to design a house, to sort of show people in a poetic way.
Abloh was on the cover of Cultured magazine in fall 2018. He was talking with his friend and frequent collaborator Takashi Murakami. In 2019, Abloh joined the board of directors for The Council of Fashion Designers of America. This group works to support the American fashion industry. Abloh designed a custom Off-White wedding dress and veil for Hailey Bieber. On the veil, he put his famous quotation marks around the words "till death do us part."
In July 2021, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton announced they would own 60% of Off-White. Abloh kept the other 40%. At the same time, Abloh was given more creative control across the LVMH brand.
Art Projects
Abloh often worked with Japanese artist Takashi Murakami. Abloh had his own art show at Murakami's Kaikai Kiki art gallery in Tokyo, Japan. They showed their artwork together many times. This included shows at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago and Murakami's shop Oz Zingaro in Tokyo. In 2018, Abloh and Murakami worked on a series of exhibitions at Gagosian Gallery locations in London, Paris, and Beverly Hills. In 2019, Abloh helped with a speech campaign for the CTA's Red Line train wrap.
Abloh's first solo art exhibition was at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago in 2019. After Chicago, the show, Virgil Abloh: Figures of Speech, traveled to the High Museum of Art, the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, and Qatar Museums. This was part of the Qatar-USA 2021 Year of Culture. The exhibition showed a look back at Abloh's work in art, design, and music.
From July 1, 2022, to January 29, 2023, The Brooklyn Museum displayed Figures of Speech. This version of the exhibition focused on Abloh’s work from two decades. It included his collaborations with artists like Takashi Murakami, musician Kanye West, and architect Rem Koolhaas. It also showed items from his fashion label Off-White and from Louis Vuitton. This special exhibit also had a space for gatherings and performances. It aimed to create a space for Black artists and people in cultural places.
Music and DJing
Abloh loved music and started DJing when he was a teenager. He DJ'd at parties in high school and college. DJs like A-Trak, Benji B, and Gilles Peterson influenced him. Over time, Abloh became a well-known DJ and played shows around the world. He played at Hi Ibiza and at the 2019 Tomorrowland festival. Abloh released his first song, "Orvnge," with German DJ/producer Boys Noize in January 2018. In June 2019, Abloh became a DJ resident at Wynn Las Vegas's XS Nightclub. Wynn also agreed to open an Off-White store there.
In May 2019, Pioneer, which makes DJ equipment, announced a collaboration with Abloh. He designed transparent versions of their CDJ-2000NXS2 and DJM-900NXS2 models. These were shown at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art in the Figures of Speech Exhibition.
In June 2020, Abloh designed the first cover for the Pop Smoke album, Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon. Fans did not like the original cover. On July 2, a new cover, designed by Ryder Ripps, was revealed when the album came out. Abloh also worked on album art for artists like Lil Uzi Vert, Kid Cudi, and Westside Gunn.
In 2021, he started a new monthly two-hour internet radio show on Worldwide FM. It was called "Imaginary Radio" c/o Virgil Abloh. The show featured DJ sets and interviews with musicians and other creative people. Early guests included electronic artist Omar-S and Alex Sowinski from BadBadNotGood. He previously had a show on Apple Music 1 called "TELEVISED RADIO". Five episodes were released between 2018 and 2020.
Giving Back (Philanthropy)
In 2020, Virgil Abloh started the "Post-Modern" Scholarship Fund. He raised $1 million for these scholarships. The Fashion Scholarship Fund manages them to help Black students. In July 2020, Abloh's brand Off-White started a fundraising program. It was called "I Support Young Black Businesses." They sold hoodies and T-shirts with this phrase. All the money went to Chicago CRED, an organization working to reduce gun violence.
Also that year, with Nike, he helped redesign and renovate the Boys and Girls Club facility in East Garfield Park, Chicago. Abloh spent a lot of his time helping and guiding young designers.
Awards and Recognition
Abloh received his first big award in 2011. His design for the cover art of Jay-Z and Kanye West's album Watch the Throne was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Recording Package. In 2015, Abloh (for Off-White) was a finalist for the LVMH Prize. He was the only American designer nominated that year. His "War is Not Over!" T-shirts and designs from his fall 2015 women's collection gained him a lot of attention.
He won the Urban Luxe award at the 2017 British Fashion Awards. He also won International Designer of the Year at the GQ Men of the Year awards in 2017. Abloh's Off-White Air Jordan "the Ten" collaboration won 2017's Shoe of the Year. He also received the award for Accessory Designer of the Year. Time magazine listed Abloh as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2018. Japanese artist Takashi Murakami wrote in the Time issue that Abloh's achievements led to his listing. In December 2018, Ebony Power 100 honored Abloh as a leading innovator. Abloh was also nominated for 2019 Menswear Designer of the Year.
Personal Life
Virgil Abloh lived in Chicago with his wife, Shannon, and their two children.
Abloh passed away on November 28, 2021, at the age of 41. He had been privately battling a type of cancer. LVMH, with his family's permission, honored Abloh at their fashion show in Miami on November 30. The theme was "Virgil was here." Many famous people attended the tribute, including Kanye West, Kim Kardashian West, Rihanna, and Pharrell Williams. Louis Vuitton dedicated its window displays worldwide with the message, "Virgil was here."
Abloh's private funeral was held on December 6, 2021, in Chicago. Many close friends and family attended, including Drake, Rihanna, Kanye West, and Frank Ocean.
Images for kids
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Abloh incorporated the LV logo in his debut menswear collection for the brand.
See also
In Spanish: Virgil Abloh para niños
