After the tragic death of Off-White founder Virgil Abloh, Golden Girl Blog analyzes the future of the luxury fashion brand and their next steps after the loss of their beloved founder.
Virgil Abloh, the founder of luxury fashion brand Off-White and artistic director for Louis Vuitton men’s wear, tragically passed away on November 28th of last year after a two-year battle against a rare form of cancer known as cardiac angiosarcoma. Abloh and his work were adored by a plethora of big-name celebrities and fashion icons, including Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid, and Hailey Baldwin, with whom Abloh designed the bridal gown for her star-studded wedding to Justin Bieber. In addition, Abloh was known as Kanye West’s right-hand man and protege in the fashion industry, serving as creative director for his creative agency in 2010 and the artistic director behind West and Jay-Z’s critically acclaimed album Watch the Throne in 2011. Even with this impressive and extensive body of work, Abloh’s main and most popular piece of work in the fashion industry was his self-founded brand Off-White.
Off-White was founded in 2012 with “a vision from Virgil,” basing itself in Milan. Off-White, as described by Abloh, “tells a dialogue between high fashion and streetwear (Nalstarr),” utilizing the name “Off-White” as a metaphor for an in-between of the two fashion genres. The streetwear brand is famously known for its utilization of all-capital words in quotations, showcasing shoes with “SHOELACES” on the shoelaces, labeling their website “WEBSITE,” and producing all different sorts of clothing with ‘OFF-WHITE” printed on the pieces to name a few. Abloh states he employs his unique usage of quotations and all caps to demonstrate “everything that lives in the quotation marks remains to be indefinite, there’s always room for questions (Nalstarr).” A theme that seems to go hand-in-hand with the feel of the trendy, avant-garde streetwear/high fashion brand.
Abloh was hailed by many in the fashion industry as a creative genius and known worldwide as the heart and soul behind Off-White’s success. The passing of this iconic fashion intellect was a shock and tragedy to many, both within and outside the fashion industry. Many celebrities penned tributes to the fashion designer, including Pharell Williams, Hailey Baldwin, David Beckham, and Lenny Kravitz, to name a few.
A question poses in light of the fashion world’s loss of this one-of-a-kind fashion mind. What remains for Off-White after the shocking loss of such an integral part of the brand? The first semblance of what the new Off-White may look like can be analyzed in their most recent fashion show displaying their SPRING 2023 Ready to Wear collection. This marks the first collection released since the passing of Abloh. However, new artistic director Ibrahim Kamara states that Abloh still contributed the earliest ideas and visions for this collection before his passing. Inspiration for this collection came from “an exploration of the human body(Leitch).” The brand utilized all new faces to walk in their collection, going hand in hand with their overall theme of hope and new beginnings. Kamara stated, “Hope is opening doors, and that is something Virgil did beautifully until the very end (Leitch).” The collection featured a variety of looks based in dark blues and blacks, working towards an undone but structured look featuring patched leather dresses, feminizing tailored dresses and shirts, and knitwear. The collection displayed bright, innovative pieces with an exciting energy remnant of Off-White’s previous collections with a new, intriguing direction demonstrated in Kamara’s artistic presence.
Although the passing of Virgil Abloh has left a huge gap to fill both creatively and emotionally for Off-White and its counterparts, those remaining in the brand have clearly shown they plan to carry on Off-White and Abloh’s legacy with the innovative style and unique vision that’s been present since the very beginning.
PHOTO CREDITS:
CITATIONS:
Leitch, Luke. “Off-White Spring 2023 Ready-to-Wear Collection.” Vogue, Vogue, 29 Sept. 2022, https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/spring-2023-ready-to-wear/off-white.
Nallstarr. “‘History.’” "OFF-WHITE", https://web.pdx.edu/~allstott/hypebeasthistory/offwhite.html.
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