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Abloh, who also worked as a DJ and visual
artist, had been men's artistic director for Vuitton, the
world's biggest luxury brand, since March 2018.
Abloh founded the Italian luxury streetwear label Off-White, in
which LVMH took a 60% stake earlier this year. He was a former
collaborator with rapper and fashion designer Ye, formerly known
as Kanye West, who dedicated his latest Sunday Service to Abloh,
according to billboard.com.
"Virgil was not only a genius designer, a visionary, he was also
a man with a beautiful soul and great wisdom," Bernard Arnault,
the billionaire boss of Luis Vuitton's owner, French fashion
conglomerate LVMH, said in a statement Sunday.
Born in 1980 near Chicago, Abloh and his sister were raised in
Rockford, Illinois. According to a 2018 Vogue magazine profile,
his mother Eunice Abloh, a seamstress, taught him the basics of
the craft at a young age.
After graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he
completed a master's degree in architecture from the Illinois
Institute of Technology. Abloh and Ye became interns at Fendi in
Rome, and made the rounds at Paris Fashion Week. By 2010, Abloh
worked as creative director for Ye's creative agency, Donda. He
also designed album covers for Ye's "Yeezus" and "My Beautiful
Dark Twisted Fantasy".
His arrival at LVMH in 2018 marked the marriage between
streetwear and high-end fashion, mixing sneakers and camouflage
pants with tailored suits and evening gowns. His influences
included graffiti art, hip hop and skateboard culture.
The style was embraced by the group as it sought to breathe new
life into some labels and attract younger customers.
A prolific globe-trotter, Abloh generated buzz around products
outside the world of fashion, ranging from Ikea door mats that
read "Keep Off" to Moet & Chandon champagne bottles and Evian
water.
Abloh eased up his pace slightly in 2019, citing health issues,
and he was absent from an Off-White fashion show that year.
In July, LVMH expanded his role, giving him a mandate to launch
new brands and partner with existing ones in a variety of
sectors beyond fashion. For his label's first runway display in
more than a year, as activities resumed in Paris following
months of pandemic lockdowns, Abloh offered his audience a
performance from British rapper Maya Arulpragasam, known as
M.I.A, dancing with her on stage at the end.
Abloh drew on messages of inclusivity and gender-fluidity to
expand the Louis Vuitton label's popularity, weaving themes of
racial identity into his fashion shows with poetry performances
and art installations.
With an eye to reaching Asian consumers grounded by the
coronavirus pandemic, the designer sent his collections of
colourful suits and utilitarian-flavoured outerwear off to
Shanghai last summer, when many labels cancelled fashion shows.
Cameroonian handbag designer Wilglory Tanjong said on Instagram,
"Virgil Abloh’s existence was so resounding that it paved the
way for other Black designers like myself. And for that, I am
forever grateful."
Abloh travelled to Doha weeks ago as the Qatar Museums unveiled
"Virgil Abloh: Figures of Speech," a mid-career retrospective.
The exhibit was shown in 2019 at the Museum of Contemporary Art
in Chicago.
Abloh is survived by his wife, Sannon, his children Lowe and
Grey, his sister, Edwina, and his parents, Nee and Eunice.
According to The New York Times, Abloh died in Chicago.
"For over two years, Virgil valiantly battled a rare, aggressive
form of cancer, cardiac angiosarcoma," said a message posted to
his Instagram account. "He chose to endure his battle privately
since his diagnosis in 2019, undergoing numerous challenging
treatments, all while helming several significant institutions
that span fashion, art, and culture."
(Reporting by Silvia Aloisi, Mimosa Spencer and Arriana McLymore;
Editing by John Irish, Catherine Evans, David Gregorio, Daniel
Wallis & Shri Navaratnam)
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