Fashion designer Virgil Abloh dies aged 41

His family has confirmed the death on his personal Instagram account. Abloh is said to have battled a rare form of cancer for the past two years. Numerous treatments were unsuccessful, he passed away on Sunday at the age of 41. Abloh leaves behind a wife and two children.

The son of Ghanaian immigrants, Abloh grew up in Rockford, a suburb of Chicago. His mother, a seamstress, taught him to sew. In 2013, he founded his own fashion label with Off-White, heavily priced streetwear that is becoming immensely popular with millennials. A few years earlier, he had already taken the spotlight by drawing his Yeezy fashion collection with good friend Kanye West.

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His popularity with millennials also caught the attention of French fashion house Louis Vuitton, who hired him in 2018 as the artistic director of their men’s line. “We are all shocked by this sad news,” said LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault, owner of Louis Vuitton, on the death of his star designer. He describes Abloh as ‘a genius designer, a visionary, but also a man with a beautiful soul and great wisdom’.

Towering ambitions

Abloh himself made no secret of his lofty ambitions. In an interview with Women’s Wear Daily he compared his debut at Vuitton with the debut of Martin Margiela that changed and continues to influence the fashion world. And he also dared to kick his shins. When the Belgian fashion designer Walter Van Beirendonck accused Abloh of plagiarism – not the first, by the way – he preferred to start a lively debate about cultural appropriation and colonialism in fashion than to use mea culpa.

Abloh also entered into numerous lucrative collaborations, including with the Swedish furniture giant Ikea and sports label Nike, but still had time to develop a career as a DJ. In that capacity, he also appeared at Tomorrowland in Boom in 2018. DJing is the new golf. Everyone does it, whether you’re good or not,” he said.