Yesterday we were shocked to see the announcement of the Abloh family stating our beloved visionary designer Virgil Alboh died at the age of 41. We always cherished his brand Off-White, which we curated since 2015 and we areas sad to hear about this great loss for the designing and fashion community.
Virgil Abloh was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in 2019. He kept his diagnosis and treatments private. Just two years ago he Dj’ed at the Amsterdam club Shelter under the name of Flat White.
In juli Virgil was promoted as Creative Designer for Dom Pérignon, Hennesy and hotels owned by the Louis Vuitton LVMH. Abloh grew up in Chigago and studied architecture at the technical university in Illinois. He was a creative wonderschild. At the age of 22 he became the creative assistant to rapper Kanye West. He had a big influence on the concerts, merchandise, album covers and more.
In 2013 Virgil started off with his own fashion brand Off-White. Immediately his work was considered groundbreaking, making street fashion into a high end fashion stream. He was so successful, Louis Vuitton made Virgil Abloh Creative Director of the Louis Vuitton men collections. Mercedes asked Abloh to design a SUV in 2020 and Abloh made several design for Nike, Jimmy Choo, McDonald’s and Ikea.
Dutch designer Guillaume Philibert, founder of the luxury street fashion brand Filling Pieces stated on Instagram: “You showed us anything is possible”. CEO of Four Amsterdam, Edward de Jonge Urbach: ‘Thank you for inspiring a generation. The world has lost a unique talent and visionary artist today. Our thoughts are with the Abloh family”.