Photography by Pierre Suu/Getty Images
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Virgil Abloh Named the First Black Artistic Director in Louis Vuitton’s History

By Isabel Slone

Date March 26, 2018

Virgil Abloh, Kanye West’s creative director, designer of streetwear label Off-White – which just collaborated with Jimmy Choo! – and DJ, has just been named the artistic director of Louis Vuitton’s menswear line. This historic move makes him the first black artistic director in Louis Vuitton’s history.

Since he first entered the fashion arena with Off-White in 2013, Abloh, the son of Ghanaian immigrants with a grad degree in architecture but no formal fashion education, was a scrappy upstart who quickly found his footing; he was nominated for the prestigious LVMH prize in 2015. Through Off-White, Abloh has found a way to fuse streetwear with steadfast elegance. For example, a hoodie advertising a logo for a fake tow truck company could have easily crossed the line into parody Simpsons merch. But under the auspices of Off-White it exhibits a more aloof quality. Even ripped jeans take on a lofty quality when grazed with Abloh’s touch. His aesthetic, which featured plenty of hoodies, jumpsuits and floaty skirts was sort of Givenchy-meets-Sport Chek.

With Abloh’s heavy dose of relatability – “My goal has been is to add an intellectual layer to [streetwear] and make it credible,” Abloh once told Business of Fashion –he seemed poised to create his own alternative empire to the LVMHs and Kerings of the world. Perhaps one of these luxury mega-moguls might have given Off-White an offer they couldn’t refuse and purchased a major stake in the company. But Abloh’s appointment proves that real change rarely moves at a glacial pace – rather, someone makes a decision, and the next day, everything is different.

A prescient quote from a 2016 interview with GQ explains Abloh’s lightning-quick ascension. The designer said, “Right now, the whole gatekeeper system is so screwed up. They lost their footing. It’s raining. Kids can push them over. I know kids who are half my age who can kill a brand on a whim, make it uncool if they want to.”

Since Vetements stormed the castle with their DHL shirts and Celine Dion Titanic hoodies, just about anything in the fashion world has become fair game. For decades, the streetwear and luxury fashion had been concentric circles with little to no overlap, yet their move into Venn diagram territory escalated quickly. Now, the two have almost absorbed each other completely. Even last year, the F/W 2017 collaboration between Louis Vuitton and Supreme still felt a little forced, like it was trying too hard to be cool.

But what happens when the outsiders who manufacture the kind of cool that gets co-opted become the establishment? Without the friction of the unexpected, what direction will fashion head in? There’s no doubt Abloh will breathe some fresh cool air into the line. Louis Vuitton has always been a covetable brand but it’s about to get hype.

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