Fashion of Friday, 5 November 2021
Source: www.ghanaweb.live
2021-11-05The Ghanaian designer rubbing shoulder with bigger designer brands, Virgil Abloh
Virgil Abloh, founder of Off-White
•Virgil Abloh is the founder of the famous designer brand Off-White
•Virgil has a degree in civil engineering and a masters in architecture.
•He is the first American of African descent to be an artistic director at a French luxury fashion house
Virgil Abloh is a Ghanaian-American fashion designer, artist, and DJ known for being
Read full articleinfluential in the fashion industry and is director and the founder of the luxury streetwear brand Off-White.
He became the artistic director of Louis Vuitton in 2018 and has had his designer brand competing with Louis Vuitton, Prada and all the big names you can think of.
Big brands like Prada, Louis Vuitton, Channel, among others find themselves in comfortable leads and hope not to find competition but a new brand has surfaced that is ready to compete strongly.
The brand Off-White brand that has been trending with lots of its counterfeit in local markets has had its designs replicated for people who cannot afford the original and as many will think it may not be right this still promotes the Brad Off-White.
Virgil Abloh a Ghanaian man born in the United States made this dream possible and we cannot overlook his hard work and dedication to putting himself on the map and without effort, his hard work puts Ghana on the map as well.
His life
According to his profile on kaikaikiki.com, Virgil Abloh born September 30, 1980, has been the artistic director of Louis Vuitton's menswear collection since March 2018. He is also the chief executive officer of the Milan-based label Off-White, a fashion house he founded in 2012.
The Illinois born fashion designer after earning a degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison obtained a master’s degree in Architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology.
It was at the Illinois Institute of Technology where Abloh was introduced to a curriculum established by Mies van der Rohe, formed from the notions of Bauhaus, that taught him to combine the fields of art, craft and design. These theories helped merge with contemporary culture, makeup Abloh’s interdisciplinary practice today.
The trained architect also worked in Chicago street fashion, entered the world of international fashion with an internship at Fendi in 2009 alongside American rapper Kanye West. The two undertook an artistic collaboration that launched Abloh's career into launching Off-White. The first American of African descent to be an artistic director at a French luxury fashion house. He was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2018.
Achievements
kaikaikiki.com reports that in 2017, Virgil Abloh won the International Designer of the Year Award at the GQ Men of the Year Awards. Additionally, Virgil Abloh’s NIKE “THE TEN” Air Jordan 1 won Shoe of the Year at the FN Achievement Awards. Lastly, Virgil Abloh won the Urban Luxe Brand Award at The British Fashion Awards.
Collaborations / Exhibitions
In 2016 Virgil Abloh launched his first furniture collection "Grey Area" (Milan, Italy).
At the end of 2016, Virgil Abloh curated an exhibition with the works ("free cubes", "material table", and "trivision sign"), from his furniture collection for Design Miami at Art Basel (Miami, Florida).
In 2017 Virgil Abloh worked with Ben Kelly on a touring "SET" which was exhibited at the Open Eye Gallery (Liverpool, England) and then at the Somerset House (London, The United Kingdom). Virgil Abloh also collaborated with Ben Kelly on a new installation called Ruin, which was displayed at Store Studios (London, The United Kingdom)
Virgil and Takashi Murakami collaborated on an Exhibition at the Gagosian Gallery (London, The United Kingdom).
For Spring/Summer, Virgil Abloh collaborated with Hans Ulrich Obrist on a presentation at the Serpentine Galleries (London, The United Kingdom).
Virgil Abloh later in Autumn showcased his second furniture collection, titled, Component Collection at the Carpenters Workshop Gallery (Paris, France).
Virgil Abloh in the year 2019 showcased an artwork, where he revealed a new work alongside unseen works from his past, at the Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago, Illinois).
Remembering his roots
Virgil Abloh on some of his shows sometimes made sure to embed and paid tribute to his heritage on different platforms and such many platforms was the Paris Fashion Week 2021. Highlights from some of his shows were epic.
He also on the same show where he showed the Ghana flag in some of his designs also paid a colourful tribute to Michael Jackson as the music and clothes all included colorful references to the beloved pop icon.
The strong emphasis on Ghana in the outfits caught the attention of the audience. Below are some of the Ghanaian infused looks from Abloh’s Fall 2019 collection for Louis Vuitton.
