Louis Vuitton Star Designer Virgil Abloh Dies After Private Battle With Cancer

After graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he completed a master’s degree in architecture from the Illinois Institute of Technology. Abloh and Ye became interns at Fendi in Rome, and made the rounds at Paris Fashion Week. By 2010, Abloh worked as creative director for Ye’s creative agency, Donda. He also designed album covers for Ye’s “Yeezus" and “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy".

His arrival at LVMH in 2018 marked the marriage between streetwear and high-end fashion, mixing sneakers and camouflage pants with tailored suits and evening gowns. His influences included graffiti art, hip hop and skateboard culture.

The style was embraced by the group as it sought to breathe new life into some labels and attract younger customers.

A prolific globe-trotter, Abloh generated buzz around products outside the world of fashion, ranging from Ikea door mats that read “Keep Off" to Moet & Chandon champagne bottles and Evian water.

Abloh eased up his tempo barely in 2019, citing well being points, and he was absent from an Off-White style present that yr.

In July, LVMH expanded his function, giving him a mandate to launch new manufacturers and associate with current ones in quite a lot of sectors past style. For his label’s first runway show in additional than a yr, as actions resumed in Paris following months of pandemic lockdowns, Abloh supplied his viewers a efficiency from British rapper Maya Arulpragasam, often called M.I.A, dancing along with her on stage on the finish.

Abloh drew on messages of inclusivity and gender-fluidity to broaden the Louis Vuitton label’s reputation, weaving themes of racial id into his style exhibits with poetry performances and artwork installations.

With a watch to reaching Asian customers grounded by the coronavirus pandemic, the designer despatched his collections of vibrant fits and utilitarian-flavoured outerwear off to Shanghai final summer time, when many labels cancelled style exhibits.