Virgil Abloh Brings His Off-White Touch To Louis Vuitton
Creative Director of Off-White, Virgil Abloh, has officially been scouted as Menswear Designer for Louis Vuitton. One of LVMH group’s biggest earners Louis Vuitton, have taken a leap of faith into the culture and entrusted Virgil Abloh with its reins.
As a new-age polymath, Abloh has a background in Achitecture and Engineering, is a renowned DJ, designs product, fashion and art installations. His work has received the co-sign of the likes of A$ap Rocky, Jay-Z, Rihanna, Naomi Campbell and… Roger Federer.
From the early days, Virgil was heavily involved with Kanye West’s Yeezy designs. Or if we’re going way back, the days of the Louis Vuittion Don backpack, Pastelle and pink Ralph Polo Kanye. The announcement comes as a full-circle moment. Virgil probably consulted Kanye during the creation of Kanye West x Louis Vuitton Jasper sneakers, which now go for thousands. Despite not having any formal fashion qualifications, Virgil has paid his dues behind the scenes at fashion houses such as Fendi, in 2006.
Off-White (previously Pyrex), which Virgil launched in 2014, bridged the gap between streetstyle and luxury unapologetically. A new generation have now garnered an interest in fashion. And rightly so. The likes of Abloh and Off-White have reverse engineered the streetwear-luxury dynamic. High-end brands now heavily seek inspiration from street culture. Luxury brands are now looking to the Snapchatters, streetstyle Instagram posts and “hypebeast” culture to inform their A/W and S/S collections.
Abloh’s Off-White touch has been requested by the likes of Ikea, Nike and now Louis Vuitton. The designer most recently launched an art installation with Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami.
So what does he have in store for Louis Vuitton Menswear? Expect to see Abloh’s famous block capital Helvetica font and “ “ quote marks. Both are an ode to irony, mixing practical product with luxury. Imagine that, a luxury product being also seen as useful and an everyday essential. Off-White does this perfectly.
Abloh’s architectural design background inspires a lot of his fashion designs. Abloh will for sure incorporate environmental colours and tones. Whether it be texture of high-rise buildings or rocks, leafy greens, patterns from bold street signs or straps from utility uniforms. Like the Off-White x Nike Air Maxes and Jordan’s, Virgil will not take anything away from the signature “LV” that we (and our ancestors) have come to love. Virgil specifically makes sure to limit how many changes he makes on a collaboration product. For Nike it was about 3.
Abloh is testament to the power of creating according to your truth. Your idea is enough. A 2nd generation Ghanaian immigrant as the designer of Louis Vuitton menswear. His architectural and current outlook, though not fashion-based, is now requested by powerhouse brands. His LV collab is due to be fire.
