It has been over a year since the sudden passing of the fashion designer and streetwear icon, Virgil Abloh. Nobody within the past decade has impacted the sneaker community as much as Abloh. His influence is still impactful and will be for the foreseeable future; nobody can deny the fact that Abloh broke down barriers for designers everywhere no matter their opinion on his creative work.
Streetwear has typically been a subculture within the larger fashion scene. With Abloh’s presence and prominence, streetwear became widely accepted by almost everyone in the fashion industry. After the work of the Illinois native, the crossover between high-end/designer fashion and streetwear became normalized. Sneakers were one of Abloh’s main focuses that pushed limits and redefined the impact and precedents regarding collaborations.
Virgil Abloh’s most recognizable creative production is his collaboration between his world renowned brand, Off-White and the sneaker/apparel giant in Nike. “The Ten” collection showcased the true genius that Abloh was. He put his own creative touch on classic models like the Air Jordan 1, several Air Maxes, and Air Forces without doing too much. Abloh decided to work on already established shoes and turn them into unique sneakers that have never been actualized before. Past designers did not have the creative freedom that Nike granted to Virgil Abloh. He tweaked timeless models that were otherwise not altered since their inception.
After his first collection with Nike, Virgil Abloh’s influence showed no signs of slowing down. Nike has released countless pairs in collaboration with Off-White since their partnership first started. The quotes, “unfinished” materials, and exposed foam all are prevalent in numerous sneakers and in other brands looking to capitalize off of the well-known details popularized by Off-Whites’ founder.
Since Abloh worked with Kanye West on numerous creative collaborations, he solidified himself as a creative genius. The work between the two creatives started when they first interned together with the major fashion house, Fendi. Their work and influence together flourished; eventually, Abloh became the creative director at Donda. Through his own brand and West’s ties to Louis Vuitton, the trained architect became the artistic director of Louis Vuitton’s menswear collection in 2018 and later received more creative control of the major French fashion house.
Abloh broke boundaries at Louis Vuitton after he got full creative control of the men’s clothing line . He became the first person of African descent to command LV’s menswear clothing line. Virgil Abloh showed how Black designers can lead a major fashion house LVMH despite decades of prejudice and discrimination. As the son of Ghanian immigrants, Abloh rose to the top of the fashion world even with the odds stacked against him. If Abloh could do it, so can other marginalized individuals who wish to become influential designers in the industry.
Abloh provided blueprints and gave aspiring designers a chance to learn from his personal work. He quickly became a renowned leader and mentor in the high-end fashion and streetwear communities. Virgil Abloh openly mentored Jordan Bentley, a young Black creative who founded Hypland, a widely recognized and influential streetwear brand. Virgil Abloh could have easily kept to himself and focused only on his work. However, he wanted to provide for kids and young adults who look up to him as a man and an influential designer.
“Life is so short you can’t waste even a day subscribing to what someone thinks you can do versus knowing what you can do.”
Virgil Abloh
The Illinois native will be remembered for numerous things especially his major contribution to current state of sneakers. Nobody has recently paved the way for future creatives like Abloh. His concept of tweaking something already great by just three percent unlocks countless doors for upcoming artists and designers. The fact that one has to come up with a new, completely original idea is almost dead. Now, creatives have the ability to twist and change an already existing concept into something of their own without completely reinventing the wheel.
Streetwear and high-end fashion owe the world to Abloh. Very few designers have produced the amount of creative mastery that he did over a rather short period of time. May he forever live on through his original creations, collaborations, and noticeable influence on other artists and labels.
RIP Virgil Abloh 1980-2021
