Virgil Abloh

Virgil Abloh (1980-2021) was a highly successful American fashion designer, one of the leading figures in the fashion world in recent years. His main merit was to be able to create a bridge between luxury and street-style clothing, managing to give the latter style also an intellectual value that passes through a strongly citationist vein, full of references both to the creations of other designers and brands as for pop culture. Very popular among young people and very skilled in managing his own image through a series of effective and selected collaborations, Virgil Abloh is a true icon of contemporary African-American culture. An architect by training, he approached the world of fashion in 2009 during an internship at Fendi. On that occasion he also has the opportunity to meet the rapper Kanye West, for whom he will take care of the artistic direction of several albums. Success comes thanks to the Off-White brand, founded in Milan in 2013, which imposes itself on the market thanks to its ability to "ennoble" streetwear through the use of recurring and very recognizable symbols and graphics. In 2018, at the height of his success (so much so that he was named among the hundred most influential people in the world by Time magazine), he was called to lead the men's collections of the French fashion house Louis Vuitton, seeking a relaunch towards a younger audience. Not forgetting his origins as an architect, Virgil Abloh has also given life to some exclusive collaborations with furniture brands, in particular IKEA, Vitra and Cassina.