JOANNE Watkinson
VIRGIL’S FASHION LEGACY WILL LIVE ON
If you follow fashion, it’s likely you will have seen the tributes following the shock death of American designer Virgil Abloh, aged just 41.
He made history in 2018 as the first black man to be artistic director of Menswear at Louis Vuitton. He also founded Italian streetwear brand Off-white, was a long-time collaborator of rap star Kanye West and a successful DJ.
Virgil was responsible for pop culture-defining moments such as creating model Hailey Baldwin’s dress for her wedding to pop star Justin Bieber, and his creative talent was underpinned by a determination to have a positive influence on the next generation of black creatives.
He supported fashion students financially through his mentorship programme Post-modern, raising more than $1m for scholarships which gave instruction on how to start a brand.
Like his career, his legacy will spin beyond just the fashion world. While on the catwalk he helped propel streetwear to the dizzy heights of luxury fashion, he was also a qualified architect.
He was a true changemaker, a pioneer who supported sustainability with his work with Evian designing their recycled water bottles.
For a designer with no formal training in fashion, he helped redefine the luxury streetwear landscape, reviving 90s trends and shaping them into the thoroughly modern version we see now. Logos were his building blocks but it was the irony and humour that defined them.
His final menswear collection for Louis Vuitton was shown posthumously in Miami on November 30, with a star-studded front row including Kanye, Kim Kardashian, Pharell Williams and Serena Williams.
Titled ‘Virgil was Here’, the intimate show was as epic as it was sentimental, featuring many Virgil classics including his ‘Vuitton Rockers’ sweatshirts, tonal leather trench coats and Louis Vuitton x Nike Air Force 1s.
All of these, along with other iconic pieces like the holographic duffle bag at Louis Vuitton, the industrial yellow belt at Off-white and ‘The Ten’ sneaker from his collaborations with Nike, now form part of fashion history, from a stellar career cut short.
While it’s too soon for talk of a successor, the foundations Virgil laid, and the impact of his work, will be felt and seen on the streets, shops and catwalks long into the future.