Virgil Abloh, the legendary designer who founded Off-White and ran Louis Vuitton as an artistic director died today at the age of 41.
LVMH’s Twitter announced the news at 1:20 PM (EST) with a note from CEO Bernard Arnault disclosing that the visionary had been privately battling cancer for the past two years. It was later revealed to be cardiac angiosarcoma. He is survived by his wife Shannon Sundberg and two children.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">LVMH, Louis Vuitton and Off White are devastated to announce the passing of Virgil Abloh, on Sunday, November 28th, of cancer, which he had been battling privately for several years. <a href="https://t.co/CytwZLvSFu">pic.twitter.com/CytwZLvSFu</a></p>— LVMH (@LVMH) <a href="https://twitter.com/LVMH/status/1465022773550583823?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 28, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Born in Rockford, Illinois, Abloh’s mind for design seemed genetically predisposed, Abloh’s mother was a seamstress, his father ran a paint company. After achieving both a Bachelor’s in Civil Engineering and a Masters in Architecture, Abloh diverted his focuses to fashion, meeting Kanye West through an internship at Fendi and launching RSVP Gallery together, a retail store in their native Chicago.
Abloh’s affiliation with Kanye West took him to new levels of exposure, catapulting his first company Pyrex Vision, a project that saw him use deadstock from companies like Ralph Lauren and screen print designs. Abloh would eventually found the Milan-based fashion house Off-White which would receive widespread attention for its cross between streetwear and high end apparel and revolutionize men’s fashion for the better part of the 2010’s. Abloh then became the artistic director of Louis Vuitton, becoming the first African American to lead a French luxury fashion house.
West and Abloh had remained on questionable terms in recent years. Sources tell TMZ that after a falling out allegedly caused by jealousy that Abloh received an executive position at Louis Vuitton, West and Abloh had become close again before his death. Abloh was seen at one of West’s DONDA listening events in Chicago this summer, and West was allegedly one of the few who was aware of Abloh’s condition.
Virgil Abloh, the legendary designer who founded Off-White and ran Louis Vuitton as an artistic director died today at the age of 41.
LVMH’s Twitter announced the news at 1:20 PM (EST) with a note from CEO Bernard Arnault disclosing that the visionary had been privately battling cancer for the past two years. It was later revealed to be cardiac angiosarcoma. He is survived by his wife Shannon Sundberg and two children.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">LVMH, Louis Vuitton and Off White are devastated to announce the passing of Virgil Abloh, on Sunday, November 28th, of cancer, which he had been battling privately for several years. <a href="https://t.co/CytwZLvSFu">pic.twitter.com/CytwZLvSFu</a></p>— LVMH (@LVMH) <a href="https://twitter.com/LVMH/status/1465022773550583823?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 28, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Born in Rockford, Illinois, Abloh’s mind for design seemed genetically predisposed, Abloh’s mother was a seamstress, his father ran a paint company. After achieving both a Bachelor’s in Civil Engineering and a Masters in Architecture, Abloh diverted his focuses to fashion, meeting Kanye West through an internship at Fendi and launching RSVP Gallery together, a retail store in their native Chicago.
Abloh’s affiliation with Kanye West took him to new levels of exposure, catapulting his first company Pyrex Vision, a project that saw him use deadstock from companies like Ralph Lauren and screen print designs. Abloh would eventually found the Milan-based fashion house Off-White which would receive widespread attention for its cross between streetwear and high end apparel and revolutionize men’s fashion for the better part of the 2010’s. Abloh then became the artistic director of Louis Vuitton, becoming the first African American to lead a French luxury fashion house.
West and Abloh had remained on questionable terms in recent years. Sources tell TMZ that after a falling out allegedly caused by jealousy that Abloh received an executive position at Louis Vuitton, West and Abloh had become close again before his death. Abloh was seen at one of West’s DONDA listening events in Chicago this summer, and West was allegedly one of the few who was aware of Abloh’s condition.