The life of Virgil Abloh

Virgil Abloh is a man who knows fashion, and has from the very early years of his life. However, his background is not that which many may expect from an individual with one of the most influential jobs in fashion.

Early influences

Born to Ghanaian immigrant parents in 1980, Abloh grew up in Rockford, Illinois. An early influence on him was his mother’s own trade - seamstressing. As a child he spent a lot of time learning various skills required for that line of work.

As he grew, he started taking influences from the various social aspects of his young life. He quickly developed a love for music, basketball and skateboarding. As he indulged in these interests further, their culture started to guide Abloh’s dress sense. This is where his true love for fashion started.

Wanting to afford the brands and fashion he loved, Abloh turned to his first love to make money - music. He started DJ’ing at parties in local bars, and would then take the money he had made and spend it the very next day on clothes. His tastes were eclectic – from Gucci to Supreme. His college roommate, Gabriel Stulman, recalls in interview, “He devoured magazines like GQ, and wasn’t afraid of wearing colors. He had this Ralph Lauren leather jacket in college with a lion’s head emblazoned on the back and two neon-orange stripes”.

Committed to learning

However, Abloh was also a studious young man, and wanted to respect his parents wishes for a formal and successful education. Seeing the effort they had put into his upbringing, he wanted to return that favour. In 2001 he completed his degree in Civil Engineering and moved on to study a Masters in Architecture.

But it was during his first degree that two things happened - events that would determine the course of his career. Firstly, he took an Art History class in his final year. Abloh has commented on this in interview since – “It flipped my head backward. I’d spent so much time thinking practical things. I felt that a random black kid from the suburbs of Chicago shouldn’t be doing that". His interest in creativity suddenly had a new outlet.

Shortly after this revelation he had the opportunity to meet with Kanye West’s Manager, John Monopoly. Through this, he was introduced to Kanye, who put him on the payroll of his creative agency, Donda. Abloh’s role was designing merchandise for West’s tours and albums. Although not yet focused on fashion, Abloh’s course was set.

As West and Abloh worked together, their shared love for creativity and fashion developed a close working relationship. Abloh’s creative input inspired great works that were used in Kanye’s music career, such as the ‘Glow in the Dark Tour’.

Back to basics

Wishing to take his new found joy of creativity and focus it on fashion, Abloh attempted to secure an intern role with Raf Simons, but to no avail.

Not disheartened, Abloh and West both applied for another internship – this time at Fendi. In 2009, they both started the $500 a month role. Michael Burke, CEO of Fendi at the time, said “I was really impressed with how they brought a whole new vibe to the studio and were disruptive in the best way”.

Off the back of this experience, Abloh decided to go about his first foray into fashion. Pyrex was born. He bought cheap deadstock from Ralph Lauren and reworked it with bold print that featured the brand name and the number of his childhood favourite basketball player. The brand was an instant hit.

Controversy snuck in though. As the press discovered the deadstock element of the clothing, they questioned the price tag (over $500 a shirt). Abloh’s reaction to this is that reappropriation is a large part of creativity and design, which is a mindset that led the initial Pyrex foray.

Leap of faith

Only a year or so after starting Pyrex, Abloh closes the brand down (its short lifespan lending it somewhat of a cult status), to start Off White. Since its inception, this brand has been part of a sub-culture of fashion. Abloh himself refers to the brand as a case study for the modernisation of fashion and has often said he uses it as a canvas for creativity.

In the same year as founding Off White, Abloh also joined famed DJ crew, Been Trill, alongside Heron Preston and Matthew Williams. The trio had a creative background, having worked with Lady Gaga and Nike outside Abloh’s own background. The collective, as it was referred to, also had their own foray into fashion with merchandise and apparel, but more controversy followed. Many critics slated the quality of the clothing, and also questioned its creativity.

With Abloh’s main focus now squarely on Off White, the business takes off hugely. It started to make its mark on celebrity fashionista’s and found itself a place on the runway at Paris Fashion Week. In 2015 the brand narrowly missed out on the coveted ‘LVMH Prize’ to Givenchy, and then opened its first store in Tokyo during 2016. That was followed in 2017 with a collaboration on the famed Air Jordan’s with Nike – Abloh’s self-confessed favourite shoe from his childhood.

Then, in early 2018, Abloh was named one of the world’s 100 most influential people by Time.

Global recognition

This five years of continual success culminated in Abloh’s biggest accolade to date. He was appointed as Louis Vuitton’s Creative Director for Menswear. A job some say is the biggest job in fashion.

The posting came as a big surprise to many, but Abloh has big plans. Throughout his career he has referenced his desire to ‘change’ fashion and modernise the traditional, well recognised fashion houses. The role could afford him that opportunity.

Virgil Abloh’s eclectic mix of inspirations, schooling, experience and success has undoubtedly forged an interesting and potentially divisive force of fashion nature. Throughout his life he has broken the mould, both as a young skater, a music obsessed kid wearing Gucci and as a leading designer of a globally recognised brand that he built himself. He has let creativity take him where it leads him, continuously demonstrated a stoic work ethic and remains versed in the commercial language of business.

Is he the start of a new wave of Creative Directors? Is traditional fashion schooling no longer required to lead a major fashion house forward?

On 21st June 2018 Abloh’s first collection will hit the catwalk as part of Paris Men’s Fashion Week. The world waits with bated breath. Have Louis Vuitton made the right call?