Making a history as Louis Vuitton’s first African-American creative director, Virgil Abloh passed away aged 41.
Known as a boundary-breaking creative director, Virgil Abloh dies of cancer at 41. Being named as the first African-American creative director of Louis Vuitton, Abloh immortalized his legacy in different disciplines as a DJ, artist and even a furniture designer throughout his career.
Expanding the boundaries of the traditional luxury fashion and breaking taboos, Abloh brought a different perspective to the fashion world and made luxury fashion more accessible. His fashion identity was all like making postmodern artwork on clothes and therefore he turned to fashion into an arm of art. His fashion journey began in 2012 after training in architect, but he did not make designs within the boundaries of only fashion industry. He made collaborations with many brands from different fields like Ikea and Mercedes throughout his career. Besides, he designed album cover for Kanye West and Jay-Z’s album “Watch the Throne”, and other album covers for Pop Smoke and Westside Gunn. Thanks to his close relationships with rappers and musicians, he became a well-known figure in this field.
For Abloh, fashion was not just clothes’ world, but it was a wearable identity that brought together art, music, politics, and even philosophy. “Virgil Abloh changed the fashion industry. Famously prolific, he always worked for a greater cause than his own illustrious career: to open the door to art and fashion for future generations, so that they -unlike himself- would grow up in a creative world with people to mirror themselves in” British Vogue fashion editor Edward Enningful wrote in her Instagram page.
“He chose to endure his battle privately since his diagnosis in 2019, undergoing numerous challenging treatments” said on his official Instagram page. He is survived by his wife Shannon and two children.
