Founder of Off-White had been battling cancer for years; his creations have been recognized by names such as Travis Scott, Rihanna and Beyoncé
Virgil Abloh, who founded Off-White and was artistic director of menswear at Louis Vuitton, died this Sunday, 28, at 41 years of age, from a cancer that he had been treating in a confidential manner in recent years. The announcement was made by a statement that was jointly released by LVMH, Louis Vuitton and Off White. “We are all in shock over this terrible news. Virgil was not only a genius designer and a visionary, he was also a man with a beautiful soul and great wisdom. The LVMH family comes together at this time of great sadness and our thoughts are with your loved ones for the loss of your husband, father, brother, son and friend,” said Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH.
Virgil was the son of immigrants from Ghana who was born in the state of Illinois, in the United States. Hip-hop fan, he worked as a DJ even before graduating from college in civil engineering and architecture. In the early 2000s, he was an artistic consultant for album covers and set design for concerts in Kanye West. In 2012, he launched his brand, Pyrex Vision, stamping his logo on Champion and Ralph Lauren clothes, selling them at higher prices, which caused controversy. The following year, he founded Off White and, soon after, he became one of the favorite stylists among millenials, with his creations inspired by street culture, prioritizing sneakers and sweatshirts. In 2015, it was among the finalists for the LVMH award for young creators.
Virgil Abloh has also made significant collaborations with brands such as Nike, Jimmy Choo, Moncler and Ikea, and has become accustomed to having the prestige of rappers such as Kanye West, Travis Scott and A$AP Rocky, in addition to Rihanna e Beyoncé. The close relationship with Kanye West also drew attention at various times, such as when she cried hugging him after a Louis Vuitton Hommes show in Paris in 2018. “He was rooting for us. This dream is as much mine as it is his. In my dream, it was him on the catwalk. I wanted the whole world to see the guy who fought for this moment to happen, he is part of him and totally connected to me”, he said at the time. Between June 10 and September 22, 2019, the exhibition “Figures of Speech” was on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago (MCA), showing the works of Virgil, which proposed the union between fashion and political discourse.
*With information from Estadão Content.
Source From: Jovempan
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