{"id":6508,"date":"2019-06-20T14:42:03","date_gmt":"2019-06-20T12:42:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/52.30.207.235\/quotation-infatuation-who-is-virgil-abloh\/"},"modified":"2019-06-20T14:42:03","modified_gmt":"2019-06-20T12:42:03","slug":"quotation-infatuation-who-is-virgil-abloh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/quotation-infatuation-who-is-virgil-abloh\/","title":{"rendered":"Quotation Infatuation: Who is Virgil Abloh?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Everybody seems to know of the name Virgil Abloh nowadays. Ever since the reveal of his collaborative Nike<\/a> collection \u2018The Ten\u2019, his name has become a mainstay of fashion media. However, while Virgil\u2019s constant use of quotation marks has become an instantly recognisable signature, how well do you know his past? Today, with Virgil\u2019s wildest Nike creations \u2013 a trio of Zoom Terra Kiger 5s \u2013 right around the corner and a Off-White x Futura<\/a> x Nike collaboration collection just revealed, we are winding back the clock to explore the life and times of Virgil Abloh.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Virgil Virgil Abloh<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

The history behind the name: Virgil Abloh<\/h2>\n

Beginnings<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Virgil\u2019s life began from humble roots. He was born in the American state of Illinois, just outside of Chicago, in 1980. He is a first generation American, his parents having immigrated to the US from Ghana. His father managed a paint company, while his mother worked as a seamstress. His mother\u2019s line of work would ultimately educate Virgil on the garment industry long before he ever set his sights on fashion.<\/p>\n

Originally, Virgil pursued a career in architecture, completing a undergraduate degree in civil engineering in 2002, before obtaining his Master of Architecture in 2006. While completing his masters degree, which he did at the Illinois Institute of Technology, Virgil started to develop an interest in the fashion industry \u2013 inspired in part by the completion of a building on campus designed by acclaimed Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas. As a result of his newfound interest, he began contributing to a fashion and design blog called The Brilliance<\/em> and also experimented with creating his own t-shirt designs. It was through this latter venture that Virgil became acquainted with Kanye West, having reportedly met at Chicago shirt printer.<\/p>\n

Kanye West & Virgil Abloh<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Virgil\u2019s chance meeting with Kanye quickly blossomed into a friendship. It was spurred on by the fact that Ye had also begun to seriously to consider a career in fashion for himself around this time. In 2009, the duo both undertook internships at Fendi, honing their skills at the Italian fashion house. They injected a welcome dose of disruption during their internships, which made an impression on a number of outside observers, including Louis Vuitton CEO Michael Burke. Intending to further disrupt convention, Virgil, West and a number of other famous fashion-focused friends, including the likes of Don C, made their presence felt at that year\u2019s Paris Fashion Week, stepping out in outfits too eye-catching to ignore.<\/p>\n

\"Virgil Virgil Abloh & Kanye West<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The following year, in 2010, Kanye and Virgil\u2019s friendship would turn into a business relationship, with Kanye appointing Virgil as creative director of his creative agency, DONDA. As part of his new role, Virgil would art direct Kanye\u2019s 2011 collaborative album with Jay-Z, Watch the Throne<\/em>. He brought Riccardo Tisci, the creative director at Givenchy at the time, on board to design the album\u2019s iconic golden cover. Virgil\u2019s work on the album ultimately earned him a Grammy nomination, for \u2018Best Recording Package\u2019, well and truly propelling Virgil\u2019s name into the mainstream.<\/p>\n

Pyrex Vision<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In response to his rising profile, Virgil launched his own fashion label Pyrex Vision in 2012. Rather than creating garments from scratch, Virgil instead reinterpreted a selection of low-cost blank basics, including socks, hoodies and t-shirts. He added his own flair with screen-printed designs, which included \u2018Pyrex\u2019 in all-caps and the number \u201823\u2019, The design and placement was reminiscent of a basketball jersey, and with good reason: Virgil chose 23 as a nod to Chicago Bulls superstar Michael Jordan.<\/p>\n

\"Virgil Virgil Abloh – Pyrex Vision<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The label\u2019s most iconic \u2013 and also infamous \u2013 clothing items were its flannel shirts. Controversy arose when it emerged that the shirts were actually just deadstock Ralph Lauren pieces that Virgil had purchased for just $40 USD each. They were being sold for $550 USD each, post-Pyrex Vision transformation. Despite the high price tags and controversy, Pyrex Vision managed to obtain significant publicity and plenty of celebrity admirers, including ASAP Rocky and Rita Ora. Still, despite its apparent success, Pyrex Vision\u2019s presence would be cut short, with Virgil shutting it down just one year later in 2013. Rumours circulated that its closure was due to trademark issues with the glassware brand Pyrex, but Virgil has stated on record that he simply intended for Pyrex Vision to be a creative experiment, and not a true commercial undertaking.<\/p>\n

Off-White<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Almost immediately after ending Pyrex Vision, Virgil launched Off-White, the brand which he is best known for today. In contrast to Pyrex Vision, Off-White was intended to be a fully fledged venture, right from the get-go. According to Virgil, it was intended to raise the standard of streetwear and defy the widespread misconception of streetwear as a \u2018cheap\u2019 form of fashion. Off-White is more than just a fashion label, though. As Vogue describes it, it is a \u2018multi-platform creative endeavour\u2019 that merely embraces fashion as its main medium. Virgil famously explained Off-White on its debut as \u2018the gray area between black and white\u2019.<\/p>\n

\"Virgil Virgil Abloh – Off-White<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Virgil established Off-White\u2019s base of operations in Milan, Italy, in 2013 and would spend the next few years building up the brand\u2019s reputation. Many of the brand\u2019s signature elements, including Virgil\u2019s use of quotation marks for artistic effect, emerged early on its creation. As with Pyrex Vision, Off-White quickly developed a rapidly growing celebrity fanbase, which served to raise its profile and desirability. As proof of its high-fashion intentions, in 2014, Virgil showcased the brand at Paris Fashion Week, returning to the very place where he first truly emerged on the public radar.<\/p>\n

In 2016, with the help of the Italian fashion production and distribution holding company New Guards Group, Virgil launched the first Off-White concept store in Tokyo, Japan. This same year, Virgil also debuted Off-White\u2019s first foray into furniture \u2013 predating the brand\u2019s 2019 IKEA collaboration \u2013\u00a0 <\/span>with the Grey Area collection.<\/p>\n

Nike<\/strong><\/h3>\n

By 2017, Virgil Abloh\u2019s star-profile was rapidly on the rise. New Off-White stores were opening around the world and big-name collaborations began rolling in. None, however, were bigger than what Virgil had in the works with Nike. Dubbed \u2018The Ten\u2019, Virgil\u2019s hugely popular sneaker collab collection saw nine significant Nike designs \u2013 together with the Chuck Taylor from Nike subsidiary Converse<\/a>, which would delayed due to reported quality-control issues \u2013 deconstructed and reinterpreted under two themes: \u2018GHOSTING\u2019 and \u2018REVEALING\u2019. Hype quickly began to build as soon as leaked images and teases began to emerge, with Virgil kicking hype into overdrive on donning the collection\u2019s take on the classic \u2018Chicago\u2019 Air Jordan 1<\/a> to that year\u2019s MET Gala. Nike went all out for release of \u2018The Ten\u2019, jet-setting Virgil around the world to explain his approach to design through hands-on workshops. By the time the dust of 2017 had settled, \u2018The Ten\u2019 stood proud as, what was widely regarded as, the sneaker release of the year.<\/p>\n

\"Off-White Off-White x Nike | The Ten<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In response to the success of \u2018The Ten\u2019, Nike and Virgil would rerelease many of the collection\u2019s models with fresh colourways. Recently, Virgil has been given the opportunity to expand his arsenal and put his spin on a selection of new Nike models, including the upcoming Zoom Terra Kiger 5. Virgil has also just revealed two different takes on the classic Dunk, created in collaboration with street art legend Futura<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Louis Vuitton<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Climbing from strength to strength, in 2018, Virgil was announced as the new artistic director of menswear for Louis Vuitton, filling the void left by Kim Jones\u2019 departure. Virgil\u2019s appointment made him the first person of African descent to helm the brand\u2019s menswear division. He officially revealed his first collection at 2018\u2019s Paris Fashion Week, which included contemporary takes on the brand\u2019s classic monogram bag and carryall designs, and light-up sneakers. The debut collection also consisted of a number of items inspired by controversial pop star Michael Jackson. Unfortunately for Virgil, new allegations about Michael Jackson\u2019s claimed predatory ways would emerge upon the release of HBO\u2019s docuseries Leaving Neverland in early 2019, resulting in the MJ tribute pieces being cancelled.<\/p>\n

\"Virgil Virgil Abloh – Creative Director – Louis Vuitton<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

The Future of Virgil<\/strong><\/h3>\n

2019 has been another big year for Virgil Abloh already, and we are currently in the thick of it. Virgil was recently in Chicago for the launch of his first museum exhibition at the city\u2018s Museum of Contemporary Art. As of writing, though, he is on location in Paris for Fashion Week, where he has just revealed Off-White\u2019s latest designs. This time around, Virgil has collaborated with fellow creative Futura<\/a>, who has brought his iconic street art style to a selection of Off-White apparel and even a duo of Nike Dunks. Before those arrive, however, we have a trio of Zoom Terra Kiger 5s to look forward to.<\/p>\n

The Off-White x Nike Zoom Terra Kiger 5 releases in three colourways on Monday, June 24.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Everybody seems to know of the name Virgil Abloh nowadays. Ever since the reveal of his collaborative Nike collection \u2018The Ten\u2019, his name has become a mainstay of fashion media.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22213,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,63],"tags":[],"powerkit_post_featured":[4,7,5,6,8],"class_list":{"0":"post-6508","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"category-noticias"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6508"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6508\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6508"},{"taxonomy":"powerkit_post_featured","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/powerkit_post_featured?post=6508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}