Translated material
Virgil Was Here
Virzhil Ablo-friend Kanye West, designer-self-taught and main target for accusations of plagiarism in the fashion world. He was 41 years old
On November 28, at the age of 41, Virzhil Ablo, an American designer, creator of the Off-White brand and creative director of the Louis Vuitton brand, died . Close Ablo reported that two years ago he was found a rare form of oncological disease - the angiosarcom of the heart. Ablo did not advertise his struggle with the disease. He had a wife and two children. That's what it is worth knowing about the designer, whom some considered an impostor, while others were “ the main star of men's clothing”.
Ablo was not a professional fashion designer
Virgil Ablo was born in 1980 in Rockford, a suburbs of Chicago. His parents emigrated to the United States from Ghana. Ablo's father worked in a painting company, and his mother was a dressmaker. It was she who taught Ablo to sew. The future designer did not receive a specialized education: at the university he studied construction and architecture, as his parents wanted him to receive a practical specialty.
Ablo said that for him architecture is primarily a structural way of thinking. One of his favorite architects, he called Rem Colhasa, whose bureau later made out of off-White stores .
The designer rode a skate and played a DJ-sweat
Ablo recalled that he was bored of studying construction technologies, and in order to have fun, he worked as a DJ and rode on a skateboard. These hobbies stayed with him for a lifetime. The DJs of Ablo did not stop playing even in the status of the creative director of Louis Vuitton (he performed , including at the Lollapalooza music festival). And the hobby of skateboarding and street culture has become an important part of his style.
The design of Ablo was often called youth, and the youth really loved him, the Russian Vogue notes . The fashion designer himself understood this - and said that he was creating things that he would like at the age of 17.
Ablo was familiar with Kanye West for about 20 years
They met in the early 2000s. At first, Ablo came up with West Merch, and over time became one of the most important members of the artist’s creative team, receiving the position of creative director.
In 2009, Ablo and West, together, visited the Fashion Week in Paris (where they took a well-known photo ) and passed the brand in the brand Fendi (where they really became friends). Ablo participated in creating the cover of the album of West and Jay-Z “Watch The Throne” (and received a nomination for Grammy).
In 2018, perhaps the most emotional moment of Friendship of Ablo and West - hugs and tears after the first show at Louis Vuitton hit the cameras. After the death of the designer, the rapper devoted his memory to the performance of his choir Sunday Service.
Ablo bought up Ralph Lauren shirts for $ 40 and sold for 550
In 2012, Ablo created his first Pyrex Vision brand. On the logo there was the word “pyrex” (the name of the company producing measuring glasses for baking, which is also used for cooking CREC) and the number 23 (the number of the basketball player Michael Jordan in Chicago Bulls). So Ablo wanted to show that for dark -skinned guys trying to get out of Chicago, there were two ways - drug trafficking or sports.
Ablo bought from the warehouse flannel shirts of the Ralph Lauren brand for $ 40, inflicted the word “Pyrex” and then sold for $ 550 on them. Pyrex Vision was worn by a rapper A $ AP Rocky and other ABLO friends, they were sold out instantly, but there were bad news: the designer began to suspect the illegal resale of original brands. A year later, Ablo created the new Off-White brand.
In the 2010s, Off-White became one of the main events in the world of fashion
Ablo explained the name Off-White as a gray zone between black and white, street and high fashion. The brand’s clothes were sewn in Italy and cost from $ 150 per t -shirt up to a thousand dollars per sweatshirt. In response to criticism due to high prices, Ablo called not to allow Zara and Uniqlo to dictate clothes for clothes, comparing these brands with McDonaldʼs.
The branded elements of the Off-White style were inscriptions (for example, a scarf with the inscription “scarf”), diagonal stripes, crossed arrows, slopes and belts imitating a police tape. In 2015, Ablo was among the finalists at the prestigious LVMH competition for young designers. In the following years, Off-White has repeatedly recognized the most popular brand in the world.
Ablo relied on celebrities and collaborations
Ablo began to attract artists to advertising back in the time of Pyrex Vision. After the launch of Off-White, the singers Rihanna and Beyoncé, models Bella Hadid and Kendall Jenner, actress Nicole Kidman and Susan Sarandon went to the clothes of this brand.
In addition, Ablo launched collaborations with a variety of brands - from Jimmy Choo to IKEA. The most successful cooperation with Nike in 2017, in which 10 models of Nike sneakers added company elements Off-White. It was thanks to this collaboration that in Russia they learned what the line is behind limited sneakers, the Russian Forbes writes .
At the price of the manufacturer (up to $ 200), it was impossible to buy Nike and Off-White shoes, and when resale, the price increased to a thousand dollars. After the death of Ablo, the sneakers rose to five to ten thousand dollars.
Off-White was often accused of plagiarism
The Diet Prada Instagram account, which writes about plagiarism in the fashion industry, has repeatedly accused Off-White of copying other people's ideas: designer Anjolo Venzoni , the German brand of Anrealage and even the creators of the gland of the Glago Airport . Helly Hansen sports brand even sued Off-White, announcing copying his print.
Some experts of the fashion industry treated Ablo with neglect, and even designer Raf Simons, whom the American called his idol, spoke somewhat condescending to him: “He is a sweet guy. And I really like him. But I am inspired by people who bring [into fashion] something that seems to me original. ”
Ablo himself compared the samples of his design with Radi-Midd and answered the accusations of plagiarism: “My lawyer is Marseille Dyushan.” He also believed in the idea that a new design can be created by changing the original only by three percent.
Ablo did not live a few days before showing his last Louis Vuitton collection
In 2017, Kim Jones, then led by the Louis Vuitton men's line, created a collaboration with the Supreme street brand, one of Virgil Ablo's favorite brands. Cooperation has become successful - including from a commercial point of view . But when in 2018, Ablo changed Jones as a creative director, his first collection was sold even faster than the sensational Louis Vuitton and Supreme collaboration.
The appointment in Louis Vuitton contributed to the growth of Ablo's authority in the fashion industry, where it was applies to it. According to The Telegraph, the American brought playfulness, relaxation and "pinch of crazy eclecticism" into the refined style of the French brand. Ablo died two days before showing his fresh collection. Louis Vuitton devoted the upcoming show to him, calling him “Virgil Was Geere”.