The American Virgil Abloh, stylist and artistic director of the Louis Vuitton men’s collections, died Sunday of cancer at the age of 41, announced the LVMH group, Vuitton’s parent company.
“The LVMH group, Maison Louis Vuitton and Off-White have the immense sorrow to announce the disappearance of Virgil Abloh, struck down this Sunday November 28 by a cancer which he fought for several years”, declared LVMH on his account Twitter.
Bernard Arnault, the president of the group, said he was “in shock”, greeting “a designer of genius, a visionary”, but also “a beautiful soul and a man of great wisdom”.
Virgil Abloh’s illness had not been made public.
The first great black designer, committed to the affirmation of African-American cultures, the stylist had landed in 2018 one of the most envied positions in fashion, in the flagship label of LVMH.
King of luxury streetwear, he had established himself in a few years as one of the coolest designers with an audience of connected millennials.
His trademark? A style reflecting the “street” culture, with its sneakers and sweatshirts, but also an easily recognizable logo, made of oblique black and white bands, successful collaborations with Nike, Jimmy Choo, or even Moncler.
Virgil Abloh created his first label in 2012, Pyrex Vision.
A year later, Off-White was born, a luxury streetwear brand, which imposed itself by the strength of its graphics before evolving towards more “couture” creations. In 2015, the brand was one of the finalists for the prestigious LVMH prize.
LVMH signed an agreement in July with Virgil Abloh to become the majority shareholder of its Off-White brand.