Meet Virgil Abloh, the Maestro Behind Elevated Streetwear Brand Off-White

Table Of Content

• The hottest fashion brand in the world was built on irony and $1,000 sweatshirts
• Collection
• Off-White™ To Return to Paris Fashion Week With "Black by Popular Demand" Show
• Off-White benefits from high fashion’s desperation to regain youth appeal
• The Virgil Abloh phenomenon, or how the Off-White designer conquered the world
• Nike Expands New Off-White™ Apparel Capsule
• Virgil Abloh’s Final Off-White Collection Is His Most Radical

In 2002, at only 22 years old, Virgil Abloh became Kanye West’s right-hand man, with his roles extending from merchandising to album artwork to set design. In 2009, Virgil Abloh interned at the fashion house Fendi in Rome, and soon decided to launch a concept store in his native Chicago alongside Don C, co-manager of Kanye West. Named RSVP Gallery, this concept store with green neon lights offered an exclusive selection of the hottest street designers and vintage couture pieces, and soon became a landmark for those in the know in Chicago. Virgil Abloh launched his first label, Pyrex Vision, in 2012, which saw Champion t-shirts and Ralph Lauren shirts printed with the Pyrex 23 logo. The brand soon gained popularity, inviting a creative crowd from Kanye West to A$AP Rocky to design exclusive capsule collections. From its beginnings, Pyrex was sold alongside the big fashion houses, in the most influential concept stores, including Colette in Paris, Union in Los Angeles, GR8 in Tokyo and Storm in Copenhagen.

The hottest fashion brand in the world was built on irony and $1,000 sweatshirts

A shoelace on a $700 pair of sneakers with the word “Shoelaces” written on it, in quotes. According to Burke, they haven’t decided on whether Abloh will be succeeded by a new creative director—some have speculated that Abloh protege and A-Cold-Wall creative director Samuel Ross might get the nod, for either Vuitton or Off-White—or a collective of Abloh’s creative collaborators. Some insiders speculated more privately that Off-White might wither without Abloh, a celebrity among celebrity designers, providing the creative center of gravity.

Collection

Whether or not he oversaw the design of these sets, he deserves credit for making the men’s sartorial skirt feel about as practical and intriguing as just about any designer. Led by Bella Hadid in a minuscule electric-blue sheath dress, the cast of friends included Honey Dijon, Alton Mason, Joan Smalls, Amber Valletta, and Georgina Grenville. Time spent backstage inspecting the clothes—a wildly fresh experience after so long spent peering at garments through screens—showed the ultra-sophisticated precision tailoring of leather ( a cream skirt-suit; a pair of ice-blue and lavender coats) and a whole new approach to stamping Off-White’s identity through graphics. Abloh’s unmistakable cross-and-arrow logo—globally identifiable on Off-White hoodies on any street—is now minimized in a black and white logo print; a print knowingly set to compete on a level with that of any establishment Parisian fashion house.

Off-White™ To Return to Paris Fashion Week With "Black by Popular Demand" Show

A three-button herringbone topcoat and beautiful brown gingham belted blazer looked so simple and refined one could imagine a white-haired Loro Piana client sneaking into an Off-White boutique to try them on. (Before promptly removing the bright blue leather sleeve label.) Even the technical outerwear, like several bulbous down ski jackets in muted tones, were constructed with sleek suiting canvas. A few tartan shirt-skirt-trouser sets, on the other hand, were made with technical wool. Abloh explored a fascination with elegant, fluid tailoring in his final years, calling for a “human” approach to dressing rather than one defined by gender.

Off-White™ Fall Winter 2024 Collection - DSCENE MAGAZINE

Off-White™ Fall Winter 2024 Collection.

Posted: Wed, 20 Mar 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Off-White benefits from high fashion’s desperation to regain youth appeal

The idea that Off-White might become Dior in a generation or two, with designers fighting over creative directorships and continuing Abloh’s tradition of off-the-wall collaborations, is intriguing. But after today’s show, it’s hard to imagine Off-White will ever fade away. Besides a few bags which bore tiny Off-White badges, the collection’s message was in its clean proportions. Abloh’s tailoring at Vuitton was maximalist and complex; at Off-White, the way forward appears to be in classicism.

A White Knight May Save Express

As a cutting-edge streetwear brand, the most desirable collaborations of the moment have all come from Off-White. To name but a few, the label collaborated last August with Nike, upgrading 10 of the brand’s most iconic models in a project called “The Ten”. For Spring/Summer 2018, Off-White partnered with Jimmy Choo for a line of silk heels covered in PVC and over-padded boots. Last October, the brand unveiled a collaboration with the hot streetwear concept-store Kith, designing nine exclusive pieces, from a deep black hoody to a grey sweatshirt through to a collection of t-shirts all printed with “Just Global”.

Monster High and Off-White™ Join Forces on Legendary Off-White™ c/o Monster High Collaboration - Business Wire

Monster High and Off-White™ Join Forces on Legendary Off-White™ c/o Monster High Collaboration.

Posted: Mon, 09 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

This particular line sought to expand Off White’s target market and revive the diffusion line for streetwear. The space has been designed and developed alongside AMO, the think-tank arm of renowned architecture firm OMA. Throughout the store, various spaces feature various influences, with sections including a courtyard, a market, a gallery, and a stage that extends over three floors. Each room has been designed to reflect the diverse background and identity of Off-White™. “To be fair,” Castro told me. “Off-White does have some fire items.” It’s true.

As well as opening the Paris store, the label recently announced the launch of its new kidswear line. The new store is open now, and Off-White™’s Fall/Winter 2021 collection will arrive in the flagship immediately after it is unveiled in Paris on July 4. “I’m living a 3-D, real-life version of the kind of cross-communication that happens all the time—in the sights and sounds and smells that go along with being a citizen of the globe,” he says.

Virgil Abloh’s Final Off-White Collection Is His Most Radical

In 2017, Off-White partnered with Nike to redesign 10 of the company’s best-selling and classic styles. There are basically no words for how popular and how difficult to purchase this line of sneakers has been. Though the starting price points were around $200, most available pairs seemed to end up in the hands of celebrities, and resale prices now hover north of $1,000. As perplexing as it was when kids lined up and paid $1,000-plus to buy a literal brick released by Supreme two years ago, at least it was clear that it was in some ways a joke. It’s extremely expensive streetwear — primarily T-shirts and hoodies and sneakers — beloved by the teenagers of Reddit, the rich club kids of New York and Milan, the pop stars and rappers in every magazine and on every social media feed, and much of the high-fashion elite, including Abloh’s day-one fan Marc Jacobs.

WHP Global is a company that has brought back many legendary brands and has a knack for providing brands with a clear focus and vision for success and expansion. At the same time, he still stands by stylist Ian Connor, a hip-hop staple who has been accused of rape more than 20 times. In a 2017 W profile that declared Abloh “King of Social Media Superinfluencers,” he named Connor as part of “inner circle,” alongside A$AP Mob’s creative director A$AP Bari, who has also been accused of sexual assault (video evidence leaked on Reddit just before he was arrested) and with whom Nike cut ties last year. Rihanna came to his Paris debut; Playboi Carti and Kid Cudi were models in it. Off–White can definitely do more to make its products accessible to the very individuals that it draws inspiration from. This is not to say, however, that it has not taken any strides in the interest of democratizing fashion.

In March 2024, Express received notification from the New York Stock Exchange indicating that the common stock of the company would be delisted, and trading of its common stock on the NYSE was suspended. In August of 2023, Express planned to lay off about 150 employees through 2024 to save $30 million but that move only represented a portion of the planned $120 million cost reduction effort. The company had taken cost reductions in 2023 and had planned to continue reducing expenses going into 2025. However, by filing for bankruptcy, the company has the opportunity to restructure its operations including renegotiating its many lease agreements that will remain after the closure of some of its stores. The men’s tailoring is sharply done—adult, if you will—but the jackets are distinguished by large circular rings embroidered over the chest pockets. These were apparently inspired by Meccano, the century-old model construction system designed by the English inventor Frank Hornby that might’ve prompted Abloh’s pursuit of architecture later on.

Effective immediately, Express named Mark Still as its new CFO. Express’ revenue dropped 40% in 2020 due to the pandemic mandating non-essential stores to close, equating to over $800 million in sales losses for the year. Express, a multi-brand fashion retailer whose portfolio includes Express Express , Bonobos, and UpWest, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and intends to close more than 100 stores. The move, according to the company, is to better position Express for stronger growth in the future.

In that conversation, he was also referring to the challenge of making an Off-White suitcase in collaboration with the 120-year-old German luxury luggage brand Rimowa (majority-owned by LMVH, which paid $716 million for an 80 percent stake in 2016). That suitcase — priced at $1,700 — was the most popular item among the teenagers who flocked to Hypebeast’s first New York streetwear festival this October. For a collaboration with Hiroshi Fujiwara, Abloh designed a money clip that looks like a credit card. “Don’t let Zara and Uniqlo educate you on the price of a garment because that’s not fashion,” he once said. Your health is tied to that — a 99-cent nugget.” He has also collaborated with McDonald’s.

The action you just performed triggered the security solution. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. Far from being hyperbolic, descriptions of him as the ‘designer who curated hip hop culture’ or the ‘original auteur of gangster chic’ ring true.