Virgil Abloh has been named as the Artistic Director of Louis Vuitton menswear. Abloh, who first established a followlng from his street-centric label ‘Off-White’, will be the luxury house’s first African-American artistic director.
“I feel elated,” Abloh told The New York Times‘-Vanessa Friedman. “This opportunity to think through what the next chapter of design and luxury will mean at a brand that represents the pinnacle of luxury was always a goal in my wildest dreams. And to show a younger generation that there is no one way anyone in this kind of position has to look is a fantastically modern spirit in which to start.”
His catalogue of experience includes time spent interning at Fendi alongside Kanye West. This took place around 12 years ago. “I was really impressed with how they brought a whole new vibe to the studio and were disruptive in the best way. Virgil could create a metaphor and a new vocabulary to describe something as old-school as Fendi. I have been following his career ever since,” Louis Vuitton’s Michael Burke said of West and Abloh’s internship. “I paid them $500 a month!”
The appointment is the latest contribution to a dizzying version of designer musical chairs, most of which are shifts under the LVMH umbrella. Abloh’s predecessor Kim Jones left Vuitton as a replacement to Christian Dior’s Kris van Assche. I’m certainly looking forward to Abloh’s creative expressions being brought to life, all while blending with the fabulous LV flare!
