urrent C ıography B ® Yearbook 2018 Virgil Abloh Date of birth: September 30, 1980 Occupation: Fashion designer In March 2018, the internationally recognized French fashion house Louis Vuitton made head- lines when it named American designer Virgil Abloh artistic director of its menswear line. The move was in some ways an unlikely one, as Abloh was both a relatively new designer and particu- larly active within the realm of streetwear, a seg- ment of fashion that differed signifi cantly from earlier incarnations of the Louis Vuitton brand in terms of its aesthetic, relative practicality, and appeal to young people and people of color. However, some in the fashion industry were less surprised by Abloh’s selection, which signaled a desire among Louis Vuitton’s leadership to tap into new trends and schools of thought and thereby ensure the longevity of the 164-year-old brand. “The fi rst thing I am going to do is de- fi ne new codes,” Abloh told Vanessa Friedman and Elizabeth Paton for the New York Times (26 GSAPPstudent, via Wikimedia Commons Mar. 2018) of his plans for the menswear line. “My muse has always been what people actually the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago in wear, and I am really excited to make a luxury June 2019. version of that.” Active within the fashion community since EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION the early aughts, Abloh had no formal training Abloh was born on September 30, 1980, near in clothing design and instead entered the fi eld Chicago, Illinois, to parents who had immigrated after completing degrees in civil engineering and to the United States from Ghana. His mother architecture. Through his longtime creative part- worked as a seamstress, and Abloh would later nership with hip-hop artist and fashion devotee credit her with laying the foundation for his lat- Kanye West, Abloh made a name for himself in er work in fashion. His father managed a paint streetwear and went on to open his fi rst store, company. Abloh grew up with his parents and the streetwear boutique RSVP Gallery, in 2009. sister in Rockford, a town in north-central Illi- After designing a short-lived fashion line known nois, where he attended Boylan Catholic High as Pyrex Vision, Abloh established a new label, School. Off-White, in 2013 and worked extensively As a teenager, Abloh was interested in athlet- to explore and promote his design aesthetic ic pursuits, including soccer and skateboarding. through its men’s, women’s, and furniture collec- He also enjoyed music and developed an interest tions. “I don’t come from where I’m supposed to in deejaying, which he practiced on the week- come from,” he told Diane Solway for W mag- ends during his high school years. Despite such azine (20 Apr. 2017). “So I have to prove that interests, however, Abloh did not initially con- this is design, that this is art, that this is valid.” sider pursuing a career in the arts, and he would Indeed, the popularity of Off-White and Abloh’s later come to consider his teenage self’s skepti- hiring at Louis Vuitton have aptly demonstrated cism a source of inspiration. “I’m always trying his success in that endeavor, and an exhibition to prove to my 17-year-old self that I can do cre- dedicated to his work was scheduled to open at ative things I thought weren’t possible,” he told Solway. After graduating from Boylan Catholic in 1 CBY 2018.indd 1 11/1/2018 3:55:57 PM 2 Virgil Abloh 1998, Abloh enrolled in the University of Wis- can kill a brand on a whim, make it uncool if consin–Madison, where he earned his bachelor’s they want to.” degree in civil engineering in 2003. He went on to enroll in a graduate program in architecture at OFF-WHITE the Illinois Institute of Technology, completing Following the success of Pyrex Vision, Abloh his master’s degree in 2006. founded his next streetwear label, Off-White, in Milan, Italy, in 2013. As the label’s designer, EARLY CAREER he sought to continue to popularize high-end While living in Chicago after completing his streetwear as well as to emphasize the legiti- bachelor’s degree, Abloh began to explore the macy of that segment of the fashion industry, fi eld of design independently, creating his own which had long been dismissed by the indus- graphic T-shirts and launching his own website. try’s gatekeepers. “In a large part streetwear is A crucial point in Abloh’s career trajectory came seen as cheap,” Abloh opined to Christopher in 2002, when he began what would become Morency for the Business of Fashion (29 Sept. a long-term affi liation with the hip-hop artist 2016). “What my goal has been is to add an in- Kanye West. A Chicago native, West had been tellectual layer to it and make it credible.” Hav- working as a music producer since the 1990s ing demonstrated an affi nity for repurposing and and by 2002 was beginning to establish him- reinterpreting existing clothing and imagery with self as a rapper in his own right. After captur- Pyrex Vision, Abloh continued in that vein with ing West’s attention with his design work, Abloh Off-White and also went on to collaborate with formed a productive creative partnership with established brands such as Nike, Levi’s, and the artist, for whom he would create album art, Jimmy Choo. Abloh cites a wide range of infl u- set designs, and merchandise. Abloh was named ences—from Renaissance painter Caravaggio to creative director of West’s agency, Donda, in luxury brand Balenciaga to skateboarder brand 2010 and was nominated for a 2011 Grammy Supreme to the Women’s March on Washing- Award for art direction on West and fellow rap- ton—and freely mixes the images and ideas in- per Jay-Z’s album Watch the Throne. spired by them. Abloh and West particularly connected over After launching with menswear, Off-White their shared interest in fashion and made head- introduced its fi rst women’s collection in 2014 lines with their appearances at major fashion- and made its Paris Fashion Week debut that industry events such as Paris Fashion Week. “We year. For Abloh, selling both men’s and women’s were a generation that was interested in fashion lines better enabled Off-White to reach its core and weren’t supposed to be there,” he told Sol- audience, which included “girls wearing Céline way. “We saw this as our chance to participate and their boyfriend’s [Nike] Air Force Ones,” as and make current culture. In a lot of ways, it felt he explained to Matthew Schneier for the New like we were bringing more excitement than the York Times (5 Nov. 2014). “My premise is to cre- industry was.” Not content to be solely consum- ate a brand that’s immersed in this young fashion ers of fashion, Abloh and West both completed a customer,” he told Schneier. “Me, as a designer, six-month internship at the Italian fashion com- that’s what I draw from, that’s the culture that pany Fendi in 2009. I’m a part of: the music, the restaurants, the The year 2009 also saw the opening of RSVP Chateau [Marmont] to the Mercer. That sort of Gallery, a store in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighbor- premise, that’s where I’m at.” Abloh launched a hood owned by Abloh, Marc Moran, and Don C. furniture collection under the Off-White brand, Specializing in streetwear, RSVP Gallery was Grey Area, in 2016. quickly established as a venue for high-profi le As Abloh established Off-White as an infl u- fashion-related events and as the launching ential force in the streetwear sphere, the label point for products designed or inspired by hip- earned extensive acclaim from both streetwear hop artists and other cultural infl uencers. The afi cionados and the fashion-industry establish- store also introduced some of Abloh’s early fash- ment: Abloh was named a fi nalist for the presti- ion designs, including his Pyrex Vision collection gious LVMH Young Designers Prize in 2015, and of screen-printed shirts in 2012. For Abloh, the Off-White won the British Fashion Award in the continued success of RSVP Gallery and his own urban luxe category in 2017. design projects represent part of a shift in the fashion industry, which was transitioning from LOUIS VUITTON an industry of which trends set and controlled Although Abloh enjoyed running his own label, by established companies, publications, and ce- he long aspired one day to helm one of the fash- lebrities to one in which young consumers and ion industry’s large companies. “We’ve all got our online infl uencers could alter the fashion land- little pontoon boats or whatever. Some might scape overnight. The industry’s gatekeepers “lost be bigger than others. The fashion house is the their footing,” he told Zach Baron for GQ maga- ocean cruise,” he told Baron. He added, “It’s zine (1 Aug. 2016). “It’s raining. Kids can push got 7,000 people on it. You’re steering it. That’s them over. I know kids who are half my age who my goal. I want to do that.” A turning point in CBY 2018.indd 2 11/1/2018 3:55:58 PM Joshua Abrams 3 Abloh’s career came in March 2018, when he business/louis-vuitton-virgil-abloh.html. Ac- was selected to replace designer Kim Jones as cessed 13 July 2018.