Completely unexpected, and therefore doubly annihilating, the news of the disappearance of Virgil Abloh due to a rare form of tumor, at just forty-one years old, came to a close on any Sunday at the end of November, two days before the show that Louis Vuitton, the brand for which he was artistic director of the men’s division since 2018, would have organized in Miami.
From Off-White to Vuitton, the art of hybridization
Diabolical and illuminating timing: Abloh’s ascendant, first with Off-White, the brand launched in 2013 thanks also to the vision and entrepreneurship of Davide De Giglio and Marcelo Burlon, co-founders of New Guards Group, and then with Louis Vuitton, brought to glories of high desirability with pops of ideas, stimulating multicultural stratifications and samplings in the recent history of niche fashion design, it is representative of the complete reshuffling of the language and narrative of contemporary fashion, of hybridization with art and entertainment (these are in Miami the days of Art Basel, general states of the system and magnet for wannabes).
A magnetic DJ also in fashion
Musical Anglicism is chosen on purpose: amateur, but not in disarray – indeed, with a rigorous training as an architect – Abloh, among the many activities, was also dedicated to DJing, and it is just like a DJ who has also worked with clothes, picking from here and there, cutting and sewing ideas that are not necessarily his, mixing everything in an amalgam, yes, his, and telling it in a magnetic way for everyone, especially the layman.
Its revolutionary message: you can do it even without specific training
The trite rhetoric of the self-made man and unshakable professionalism has replaced an enlightening message for the hordes that live and form on social media and not: even without ad hoc training, you can do it, just have the right idea and tell it Well. In this, Abloh was a true game-changer, authentic in the inclusive mood, inspiring in the enthusiastic spirit. A long belt with logo and Duchamp’s irreverent use of quotation marks are his inventions that will remain. Abloh represented the definitive transition, in fashion, from the what, or design, to the how, or styling and storytelling. His disappearance has the bitter taste of a sudden interruption, just as fashion is at the definitive turning point of dematerialization in pure entertainment. Abloh’s point of view on the matter will be lacking.
