Thank you, Virgil Abloh

The polymath designer-architect succumbed to his battle against cancer at age 41, but the fashion language and legacy he leaves behind will continue to drive generations

November 29, 2021 04:17 pm | Updated November 30, 2021 03:30 pm IST

Virgil Abloh, artistic director (menswear) at Louis Vuitton

Virgil Abloh, artistic director (menswear) at Louis Vuitton

When we look back at the history of civilisation, there will be some poignant defining moments in every field, moments which made the industry do a complete 180 degree on whatever was happening till then. When Virgil Abloh decided to purchase old Ralph Lauren ware for 40-odd dollars, paint over them, and then sell them for more than 10 times the price under his newly-christened brand, Pyrex Vision, few knew he would change the world of fashion forever — swiftly and so slickly that even the biggest of names would have to fall in (this new) line.

But Pyrex wasn’t even about the profits; it had a far deeper message: one of representing youth culture and shining the light on what will soon come to be defined as streetwear. It was a mirror being held up to the fashion stalwarts, to show them just how apathetic the entire industry was to the voices of the current generation. Virgil with one little move, got everyone to sit up and take notice. And all this when he was barely getting started.

Designs from Abloh’s Louis Vuitton Fall-Winter 2021 collection

Designs from Abloh’s Louis Vuitton Fall-Winter 2021 collection

I am not a fashion designer’

A young engineering graduate who also got an architecture masters along the way and interned at Fendi’s Rome office (with Ye, who earlier went by Kanye West) in the late noughties, Virgil never claimed to be a fashion designer. As he said, he was “riding the wave” every day in the world of design, observing it, studying it, and envisaging when and where it will break.

In 2013, when he founded Off-White — which he defined as the grey between black and white — out of Milan, his influence grew. His first releases, although rooted in deep design with rich historical allegories, were interpreted in a manner that everyone could connect with. It was quite polarising — the zip ties, Caravaggio canvasses, Bauhaus influences, those ubiquitous double quotes. People either loved it or completely derided it, there was no sitting on the fence with what Virgil presented you with.

 

He claimed to be merely an observer who took things as they were and changed them by 3%, so much so that they were recognisable and yet completely new. It reminds strongly of French artist Marcel Duchamp’s sculpture for an exhibition in Paris in 1917, wherein he sent them a common male urinal (signed R Mutt) but labelled it as a fountain.

Virgil was not a copycat, as many had once alleged; he was just utterly brilliant at repurposing. To use a cliché, he saw things as they weren’t and questioned, why the hell not.

Some of Abloh’s collabs — Moët & Chandon, Nike, Ginori 1735m, and Ikea

Some of Abloh’s collabs — Moët & Chandon, Nike, Ginori 1735m, and Ikea

In the league of legends

The ultimate validation then would have come in the form of his many collaborations, from the Nike ‘The Ten’ series to being appointed the artistic director of menswear at Louis Vuitton, and also heading Kanye West’s brand, Donda, as creative director.

But the real influence was on the street, where he encouraged people to come up with their own iteration of the Off-White design language. His double quotes have possibly become the most recognisable graffiti motifs since Banksy’s works.

Since 2019, Virgil was battling a rare and deadly form of cancer and yet, through his arduous treatments and therapies, he kept it all tightly sealed and work continued as usual. His new collections were now the most awaited event of the year, as the cynosure of all fashion critics who would sit patiently, part waiting to tear him down but always curious to see just how next he would enthral and redefine the idea of fashion and style.

Virgil Abloh during Paris Fashion Week 2021

Virgil Abloh during Paris Fashion Week 2021

One of his last shows, in 2020, was in Tokyo for Louis Vuitton, where he showcased some very obvious and heavy Ghanaian influences, a pandemic-era show where he asked some heavyweight questions about the connection between provenance and ownership. He didn’t shy away from being influenced by elements from his own life and everything around him; rather he embraced them with alacrity, pride and just that right amount of smirk-inducing chutzpah.

On November 28, Virgil Abloh, 41, finally succumbed to the cardiac angiosarcoma that had tried to retard his success story but so far failed. The work he leaves behind will continue to evolve fashion and design forever. His works and influence will be spoken of in the same league as Warhol, Basquiat and Haring. He wasn’t a fashion designer, he was a visionary. He didn’t design, he interpreted it, extracted it and exhibited it from life quotidian and made us all sit up and notice all that we weren’t all along. Off-White, to me, isn’t just a brand that put streetwear all the way up there right next to haute couture, it was the language of a one-man tour de force which, now, we are all learning and will be using as the common medium of communication that talks across generations, cultures and socio-economic divides.

If fashion ever wielded the power to unite and define an era, we are all living it right now, all thanks to the works of this one man. We should be so lucky. Thank you, Virgil, for everything.

Magandeep Singh is a lifestyle and luxury columnist.

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