OFF-WHITE BY VIRGIL ABLOH AND THE ART OF VANDALISM

The extraordinary story of the Ghanaian-born designer, died in 2021, who revolutionized the collaboration with Nike

That Virgil was a very singular name for the son of two Ghanaian immigrants, was also realized by the secretary of the University of Wisconsin to whom he handed the registration documents for the civil engineering faculty. From Rockford, Illinois, many moved to study in Chicago or Milwaukee, but the finances of the Abloh family at that time did not allow commuting movements. A seamstress mother and a paint salesman father, no matter how well integrated into the community of that Winnebago county farm, couldn’t cope on their own with the dreams of their fanciful son.

Also for this reason, it is not wrong to say that Virgil Abloh is the most complete personification of the American dream: from that small center of 150 thousand inhabitants, he climbed alone and without help the fashion industry. It all started with the design of t-shirts in a Chicago print shop, while he was attending his Master of Architecture at IIT. It was during this time that he became a friend and collaborator of Kanye West, for whom he designed the merchandising and the covers of his first albums.

A path that led him then spontaneously, in 2012, to open a boutique called Pyrex Vision, based on a concept very simple as viral: buy lots of cheap and basics Champion’s tee and pieces of Ralph Lauren stock, over which he applied his graphics and silkscreens, then sold for hundreds of dollars more.

The aesthetics of vandalism has always been one of the Virgil traits d’union, and reaches its maximum expressiveness during the following year, 2013, when the Rockford designer founded his label Off-White that, redefining that gray area between streetwear and luxury fashion, was destined to remain in the history of costume of all time. Initially Off-White focuses its aesthetic on collections of tee and hoodie with iconic diagonal lines and recognizable labels, accompanied by industrial packaging. But in a short time, they move on to the runway: already in 2014 - in fact - the first line of Off-White women’s clothing debuts during the Paris fashion week and is even selected as a finalist for the coveted LVMH award, that for the first time brings Virgil Abloh in contact with haute couture. But the real grail of the boundless production of Off-White is the collaboration with

Nike. During an interview, Virgil Abloh stated that he and his friend Chris Eaton were so obsessed with Jordan that they had “started designing Nike shoes to send it to the brand. And Nike said, “We don’t accept projects”.

But in the end Nike gave in, and it did well. Abloh’s collaboration with the hugely popular brand began in 2017 with the “The Ten” collection, a partnership that gave rise to some of the most coveted sneakers of all time by collectors. Also in this line, Virgil’s vandalism takes shape through a unique, essential and ironic design, which deconstructs and redesigns 10 of the most iconic models of Nike shoes. On the occasion of the release of the collection, Abloh himself said: “What we are talking about goes beyond sneakers, it also goes beyond the culture of design. It’s nothing short of a cutting-edge design. These 10 shoes have broken barriers in both performance and style. For me, they are on the same level as a David or Mona Lisa sculpture. You can discuss them as much as you want, but they mean something. And that’s what matters”.

The following year, Off-White is the hottest brand in the world, according to the quarterly ranking compiled by the fashion platform Lyst. In just one year, the brand climbed 33 places in this ranking, surpassing for the first time luxury brands such as Gucci and Balenciaga. In the same year, 2018, Virgil Abloh was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine for his artistic ability, which also helped develop and grow black culture and identity.