American fashion designer, DJ and Off-White founder Virgil Abloh has died aged 41. That’s his family on Instagram announced. Abloh suffered from a rare cancer, which he was diagnosed with in 2019. He kept the news of the diagnosis private, as well as the treatments he was undergoing.
Growing up in Chicago, Abloh was a creative jack-of-all-trades. He studied architecture at the technical college in Illinois, and started at the age of 22 as a creative assistant to rapper Kanye West. He contributed ideas about performances, merchandise and album covers of the world-famous rapper.
In 2013, Abloh founded the fashion brand Off-White. His work was considered innovative because he approached street fashion such as hoodies and sneakers as luxury fashion products. As a result, Off-White’s clothing became particularly popular among young generations.
Louis Vuitton in IKEA
His success with Off-White led established brands to take an interest in Abloh’s work. For example, the French luxury brand Louis Vuitton appointed Abloh in 2018 as the creative director of the men’s collections. Car brand Mercedes asked Abloh to design an SUV in 2020, as an art project. Abloh also made products for Nike, Jimmy Choo, McDonald’s and IKEA, among others.
Parallel to his fashion and design career, Abloh traveled the world as a DJ. His DJ name was Flat White. In 2019 he played in the Amsterdam club Shelter.
Check out Virgil Abloh’s DJ set below:
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