Virgil Abloh, Influential Fashion Designer and Off-White Founder, Dies at 41

Virgil Abloh—the highly influential fashion designer, Off-White founder, and Louis Vuitton’s artistic director of menswear—died today (November 28) at the age of 41. Louis Vuitton announced the news in an Instagram post, stating that Abloh had been privately living with cancer for several years. “We are all shocked by this terrible news,” LVMH’s CEO Bernard Arnault said in the statement. “Virgil was not only a genius designer and a visionary, he was also a man with a beautiful soul and great wisdom. The LVMH family joins me in this moment of great sorrow and we are all thinking of his loved ones on the passing of their husband, father, brother, son and friend.” Find the full post below.

Virgil Abloh was born in Rockford, Illinois to Ghanaian parents. After studying civil engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology, he shifted his focus to fashion design. In 2009, he interned at the Rome-based design house Fendi. Kanye West, who was a friend of Abloh’s from Chicago, was also an intern at the esteemed fashion company during that time. Abloh would later serve as West’s creative director and longterm collaborator. He worked with West on conceptualizing a number of the rapper’s album covers, including artwork for My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and Yeezus. He also contributed to the stage design for Kanye West and Jay-Z’s Watch the Throne tour, as well as the cover design for the corresponding LP.

Abloh launched his pivotal brand Off-White in 2013. The label, and much of Abloh’s work, drew inspiration from mundane objects, and the artistic potential for elevating familiar things. “Everyday objects, a pair of socks, a T-shirt, can all be made into high fashion using intellect,” he told Artnet in 2018. “It’s something that is as impactful as Duchamp saying that a urinal is a fountain. And I think that anything made after that can be seen in a different light. Culture itself can be looked at in a certain way.”

In 2018, Abloh was appointed as the artistic director of menswear at Louis Vuitton, becoming the first African American to helm that post at the French label. His debut collection for the brand—a parade of rainbow colored luxury streetwear—was displayed in the gardens of the Palais Royal in Paris. Although he was a groundbreaking presence in the elite fashion world, Abloh’s aesthetic influence reached far beyond that realm. He also collaborated with brands like Nike and Evian, and created visuals for a number of contemporary artists. Abloh designed album covers for Westside Gunn’s Pray for Paris, Lil Uzi Vert’s Luv Is Rage 2, Pop Smoke’s posthumous LP Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon, and more. He also directed Lil Uzi Vert and the Weeknd’s dark music video for their 2017 single “XO Tour Llif3.”

In addition to his work as a designer, Abloh deejayed under the alias Flat-White, and collaborated with a number of artists. In January, he shared the song “Delicate Limbs” featuring Serpentwithfeet. His previous release was Orvnge, a collaborative EP with German producer Boys Noize. Last summer, he featured on “Shoes,” a track from Lupe Fiasco and Kaelin Ellis’ House EP.

An outpouring of tributes from the music community have surfaced since Abloh’s death was announced. “My heart is broken,” Pharrell Williams wrote on Twitter. “Virgil you were a kind, generous, thoughtful creative genius your work as a human and your work as a spiritual being will live forever Sending love and light to your wife, children, family and day ones you’re with the Master now, shine.” Drake, Bon Iver, Justin Timberlake, DJ Khaled, J Balvin, Offset of Migos, Westside Gunn, Erykah Badu, the Weeknd, Pusha T, Vince Staples, the Alchemist, M.I.A., Diplo, Kaytranada, Ty Dolla $ign, and many others have also posted words of remembrance. Kanye West dedicated today’s edition of Sunday Service to Abloh.