Born in Rockford, Illinois, Virgil Abloh was an artist, architect, engineer, creative director, industrial designer, fashion designer, musician, DJ, and philanthropist.
After earning a degree in civil engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he completed a Master’s degree in architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), Chicago.
The Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago presented a major traveling survey of Abloh’s work in summer 2019—one of the highest attended exhibitions in the museum’s history.
In 2019, Abloh was diagnosed with cardiac angiosarcoma, a type of cancer. Though he kept the diagnosis private, he died on November 28, 2021, at the age of 41 in Chicago.
Abloh was the Chief Creative Director and founder of Off-White™️
Core Studio Public Lecture: Virgil Abloh, “Insert Complicated Title Here” Harvard — October 26th, 2017
OFF WHITE c/o VIRGIL ABLOH™ defining the grey area between black and white as the color Off-White™
“PERSONAL DESIGN LANGUAGE”
1. READYMADE - NEW IDEA BASED ON RECOGNIZABLE PARTS HUMAN EMOTION, IRONY
2. “FIGURES OF SPEECH” OR THE “QUOTES”
3. 3% APPROACH
4. A COMPROMISE BETWEEN 2 DISTINCT SIMILAR OR DISSIMILAR NOTIONS
5. SIGNS OF “WORK IN PROCESS” - AGAIN HUMAN INTERACTION
6. A SOCIETAL COMMENTARY - HAS A REASON TO EXIST NOW
7. SPEAKING TO THE TOURIST & PURIST SIMULTANEOUSLY
Off-White™
“Your career will be like an up-hill battle. But more likely, there are all these shortcuts you can take. This is about all of the shortcuts that I’ve learned.”
1. READYMADE - NEW IDEA BASED ON RECOGNIZABLE PARTS HUMAN EMOTION, IRONY
“I’m super obsessed with Duchamp. Super obsessed with Readymade– this idea that an artist over thought the game, understood the parameters, and provided something provocative that became a launch pad for other forms of art.”
‘Fountain’ Marcel Duchamp, 1917
3.0 Off Court Leather Sneaker, Off-White™
“ WE EXIST OFF THE BACKS OF MANY OTHER THINGS AND ITERATIONS BEFORE US.”
2. “FIGURES OF SPEECH” OR THE “QUOTES”
“It’s basically humor. To insert humanity into conversations– You open up when you laugh. It’s just us being ironic. Normcore K-Hole, that whole rationale– It’s the halo we’re in. My way of doing that and trying to be the most Duchamp version of ironic is speaking in quotes.”
“FIGURES OF SPEECH”
Canary Yellow™ - Figures of Speech T-Shirts
“IT ALLOWS ME TO SAY TWO THINGS AT THE SAME TIME, OR BE FIGURATIVE AND SORT OF PRECISE.”
3. 3% APPROACH
“Right now, I’m only interested in editing something 3% from its original form. I’m basically tired. I might be too old, but I found things intriguing to me only when they’re slightly edited.”
Off-White™ x Nike Collaboration Nike Air Force 1 Low “THE TEN”
"I GOT ASKED TO DO A NIKE AIR FORCE ONE. THIS IS LIKE A NEW ONE, BUT I ONLY EDITED IT 3% BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANT ANOTHER SHOE.”
4. A COMPROMISE BETWEEN 2 DISTINCT SIMILAR OR DISSIMILAR NOTIONS
“Off-White— It’s basically a shorthand pseudonym to remind me that I’m always just comparing two things, whether they’re super dissimilar or they’re actually the same. It’s my shorthand to say, between luxury and streetwear, that’s how i can decide if a piece is done. It’s my internal measuring stick.”
“I’m not approaching this design as a shoe. I was just looking at it like an object. It’s like I took it off the shelf and drew on it and put it back— Don’t be too precious. You can decide to wear it as a shoe.”
Off-White™ was first founded as “PYREX VISION”
“ THIS WAS MY DOMINO EFFECT. I JUST SCREENPRINTED SOME HOODIES FROM A BOOK AND POEM I LIKED– THAT’S WHY I’M STANDING HERE. IT’S STREETWEAR AS LUXURY.”
5. SIGNS OF “WORK IN PROCESS” - AGAIN HUMAN INTERACTION
“I love work in progress. It’s a humanity thing. Once I realized that it’s okay to not be a perfectionist, all of the sudden, I can make a million things at once and go to sleep at night.”
“THE ZIG-ZAG APPROACH FINDS NEW SPACE, LINEAR THINKING RESULTS IN COPIES OF PAST PRODUCTS.”
Off-White™ x Air Jordan 1 Retro High OG 'Chicago'
“THE HALF-MADE SHOE”
“When Nike approached me with the Air Jordan, I did the naive-questioning thing. I grabbed one and was like— in this Air Jordan, is there an air pocket? I couldn’t see it, so I just took an Xacto knife and jammed it in the bottom, realizing there was air. And I was like— Im going to write “AIR” in my language. It reinforces the ethos, and in this process is how we ended up with a half-made shoe.”
6. A SOCIETAL COMMENTARY - HAS A REASON TO EXIST NOW
“An output, for me, has to have a reason to exist. It’s in our brain that over-consuming is not OK. As designers, we’re the ones who have to question these generational decisions. But first— Every output— does it need to exist?”
7. SPEAKING TO THE TOURIST & PURIST SIMULTANEOUSLY
“The last one is a driving principle to me. It’s like the tourist and purist meet somewhere. Think about how much knowledge is in this vicinity and how much knowledge is around the world. There’s real people that benefit— If we’re not interchanging with that, ultimately it’s self serving.”
“Virgil Abloh x IKEA MARKERAD "RECEIPT" Rug 201x89”
Off-White™ x IKEA “KEEP OFF” Rug
“Of course it looks super simple, but for me, it’s pulling those vocab words out of my own language and applying it. I love the idea of thinking about the living room that you’re not supposed to stand or use certain furniture. It looks expensive but it’s affordable. Off-White balance.”
“IKEA. THIS INSTITUTION THAT PROVIDES TO REAL PEOPLE ARE TOURISTS. TO ME, IF I CAN BRING AND OUNCE OF A NEW IDEA TO THEM, THAT'S A WIN.”