My 17 favorite Virgil Abloh designs
His work spanned fashion, popular music, and interior design, and he called our times a "modern renaissance"
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American artist and designer Virgil Abloh — whose work spanned fashion, popular music, and interior design — died Sunday at the age of 41 from a rare form of cancer. Abloh veered between ultra-minimalism and hyper-maximalism and his signature quotation marks were used to convey irony.
“You can use typography and wording to completely change the perception of a thing without changing anything about it,” he said in 2017. “If I take a men’s sweatshirt and write ‘woman’ on its back, that’s art.”
He called our times a “modern renaissance,” and brands were his patrons, allowing him to reimagine consumer goods. Abloh’s capsule collections for companies like Nike and Ikea brought street cred to mass market brands, and they sold out in minutes. He founded the streetwear brand Off-White, worked as creative director for Kanye West, and artistic director for Louis Vuitton.
“He often said, ‘Everything I do is for the 17-year-old version of myself,’ believing deeply in the power of art to inspire future generations,” read the statement posted to Abloh’s Instagram account announcing his death.
These are some of my favorite Virgil Abloh designs:
1. Watch the Throne packaging (2011)
Abloh was nominated for a Grammy for Best Recording Packaging for his work as art director on West and Jay-Z’s 2011 collaborative album. Watch the Throne included art by former Givenchy creative director Riccardo Tisci, shiny gold embossed packaging that folded out, and a nine-panel poster with liner notes on the back.
Abloh also art directed or designed album art for artists including Kid Cudi, ASAP Rocky, and Lil Uzi Vert.
2. Pyrex Vision shirts (2012)
Pyrex Vision, Abloh’s first brand, was an experiment in culture jacking. It resold $40 Ralph Lauren flannel shirts marked up to $550 after screen printing “Pyrex” and the number “23” for Michael Jordan on the back. The line also included tees, hoodies, and caps, and Abloh closed the brand the following year.
3. Yeezus album art (2013)
Abloh designed the art for West’s sixth studio album: a single red sticker sealing a clear jewel case. In 2019, Abloh recreated the album in giant size with “In His Image (A Tribute to Yeezus).”
4. The Off-White Nebraska hoodie (2015)
In the opening scene of the “Feeling Myself” music video with Nicki Minaj, Beyoncé sports an Off-White Nebraska hoodie from the brand’s Spring Summer 2015 collection. The piece juxtaposes a beach print with flyover country typography, pairing tropical palms with “Nebraska” written in Cornhusker red.
5. “False Façade” (2016)
Abloh worked with collaborator Fabien Montique for a printed backdrop that brought outdoor architecture indoors for Off-White’s Spring Summer 2017 show during Paris Fashion Week. Abloh received a master’s degree in architecture from the Illinois Institute of Technology and architecture features prominently in his fashion work.
6. The Ten (2017)
In August 2017, Nike announced a collaboration with Abloh to reconstruct 10 iconic Nike footwear silhouettes, including the Air Jordan I and Converse Chuck Taylor. Abloh called the original shoes “on the same level as a sculpture of David or the ‘Mona Lisa,’” and he reimagined them with zipties and quotation marks. Complex named the Off-White X Nike Air Presto the best shoe not just of the collection, but of all Nike’s collabs with Abloh when they ranked them in August.
7. “Material Too” (2018)
Abloh worked with Japanese pop artist Takashi Murakami for a series of collaborative exhibitions at Gagosian galleries in London, Paris, and Beverly Hills in 2018. For the Beverly Hills exhibition, America Too, they created an American flag with Murakami’s cartoon eyes and the Off-White logo.
“There is a zone of supremacy in the art world and there is a sense that fine art is the most precious and has the highest status,” Murakami said in a statement about the show. “My collaboration with Virgil is trying to create something that is completely outside of that framework.”
8. The Queen Collection (2018)
For the 50th U.S. Open, Abloh designed tennis dresses for Serena Williams that featured an asymmetrical design, tutu-like skirt, and “Logo” written above the Nike swoosh. The Queen collection also included shoes, a bomber jacket, and bag.
9. “See Through” (2018)
Abloh’s transparent suitcase for German luggage maker Rimowa turned packing for a trip into art. “You become a performance-art piece just by using the thing,” he said.
10. The Harness (2018)
Timothée Chalamet wore one and so did Michael B. Jordan. Louis Vuitton harnesses began popping up on red carpets shortly after Abloh was named creative director in 2018, but actually, Louis Vuitton would prefer if you called them “embroidered bibs.” In an interview with Vogue, Abloh called it a “mid-layer garment.”
“It doesn’t have the comfort or the security of a jacket, but it’s somehow empowering,” Abloh said.
11. Hailey Bieber’s wedding dress (2019)
For her September 2019 wedding to Justin Bieber, Hailey wore a white backless wedding dress by Abloh that’s covered in flower designs and the Off-White logo. The veil included “Till Date Do Us Part” written at the bottom, and the veil and dress each took teams of 10 to make.
12. “Little Black Dress” (2018)
The storied history of the Little Black Dress dates back to Coco Chanel in 1927. Abloh’s take on the LBD, for Off-White’s Fall 2018 collection, spelled it out down a crewneck long-sleeve A-line dress.
13. Twentythirtyfive (2019)
Abloh imagined interior design of the near future for his Twentythirtyfive installation at Art Basel with Swiss furniture maker Vitra. The installation had two rooms, “Past/Present,” of a minimalist teenager’s room supposedly set in 2019 (it looks like it’s from the future) and includes a dope seesaw, and a “Tomorrow” room set in 2035 from that same teenager grown up.
“2035 is not that far into the future, but still lies ahead,” Abloh told Vogue. “Our world will be a different place by then. And as a design community, we should be thinking about that in the larger sphere of what we’re doing. It’s arguable whether we will even have a need for furniture in 2035.”
14. Markerad (2019)
Abloh’s limited edition collection with Ikea included a clock, chair, and table, but it was the rugs that stole the show. They’re cheeky and charming, like “Wet Grass,” “Keep Off,” and the rug that’s an oversized Ikea receipt. “Still Loading” renders the beauty of the great outdoors stalled by slow internet. The 15-piece collection, called Markerad, holds its value better a Billy bookcase, with rugs reselling for thousands on StockX.
“It’s about elevating the anonymous, everyday icons that we use without noticing,” Abloh said of the collection.
15. Air Drake (2020)
Drake tapped Abloh to redesign the outside of his private jet, a Boeing 767-300F he was reportedly gifted by the Canadian airline CargoJet. The sky blue jet was covered in clouds, and had the phrase “If You're Reading This We Left” written across the bottom. Drake was criticized for flaunting the jet back in April 2020 when the pandemic began and ostentatious displays of wealth were seen as uncouth.
16. Fashion Our Future 2020 (2020)
Abloh served as creative director for Fashion Our Future 2020, a collection that promoted voter registration and voting through fashion. He contributed a “Model Voter” shirt for the collection as well as a “Swing State” series.
17. “Life Itself” (2021)
One of Abloh’s final pieces was “Life Itself,” a plate he designed for the 2021 Artist Plate Project that was released 12 days before his death. It featured the word LIFE in all caps without quotation marks, and a shatter design printed on the front. I’m not crying, you’re crying.
What about you? What are some of your favorite Virgil designs?
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