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The fashion world mourns the loss of a visionary and legend. On Sunday, November 28, 2021, the Instagram channel of designer Virgil Abloh announced that he has passed away. The artistic director of the men's line of Louis Vuitton, founder of haute streetwear label Off-white and DJ has turned 41. The online statement states that he has been privately battling a "rare, aggressive form of cancer" since 2019.

Creative Assistant to Kanye West

Growing up in Chicago, Abloh was a creative of all kinds. He studied architecture at Illinois University of Technology and began working as a creative assistant to rapper Kanye West at age 22. He contributed ideas about performances, merchandise and album covers, among other things. Virgil's first independent vision of clothing started with his first clothing brand: Pyrex Vision. The first collection he released consisted of old collections from Ralph Lauren. The designs were shirts with the word "PYREX" printed on them, which he sold for about $500.

The year 2013

Off-White

In 2013, Abloh founded his successful streetwear label Off-White. With Off-White he managed to bridge the gap between haute couture and streetwear. The success of the off-white label caused many brands to become interested and the label collaborated with major brands such as IKEA, Nike, Levi's, Moncler, Evian and Jimmy Choo and is best known for the recognizable quotes on the items.

The year 2018

Louis Vuitton's men's line

The world embraced his bold style and his outspoken view of art, culture and fashion. The pinnacle of Abloh's career came when he was named artistic director of Louis Vuitton's men's line in 2018, successor to Kim Jones. With this role, he made history as the first African American to lead the Louis Vuitton men's line. Something that was hugely celebrated in the black community. Abloh showed the world how to get to the top. He told the New York Times what his new title meant: “I want to show the younger generation that you don't have to look a certain way to perform in a certain position. It's a fantastic start.'

Hailey Bieber's wedding dress

Virgil has showcased countless iconic designs to the world, including in 2018 Abloh designed a custom off-white wedding dress and veil for the world-famous wedding of Hailey and Justin Bieber, who tied the knot three years ago. A striking wedding dress that mainly went over the internet because of the refreshing and cool addition with well-known quotes and text "till death do us part", an innovation and streetwear touch to the traditional white wedding dress.

The year 2019

DJ Flat White

Parallel to his fashion and design career, Abloh also traveled the world as a DJ. His DJ name was Flat White and in 2019 he played in a club in Amsterdam named the Shelter. 

In general 

At L'étoile, we must not forget to talk about the beautiful and eye-catching bag collections that Virgil Abloh, creative director of Off-White, has designed for "women". The most famous off-white women's bag has the "Signatures" that Off-White is known for, the black and white stripes and of course the Arrow logo is prominently processed on the bags.

For the future, we are curious how things will continue with the big brands where he was artistic director and what will happen to his current iconic collections. For now a concern for later. What we do know is that Virgil Abloh left a mark on the fashion industry and the fashion industry world will be eternally grateful to him for showing us that anything is possible. What we also know is that his beautifully designed items will likely end up in one of our stores among the other iconic designs in the future. If there are any new updates on Virgil Abloh's legacy, we'll of course keep you informed in our blogs.