Virgil Abloh, fashion’s highest profile black designer and the creative mind behind Louis Vuitton’s menswear collection, has died of cancer, Vuitton’s owner LVMH said.
LVMH said Abloh, 41, had battled cancer privately for years.
“Virgil was not only a genius designer, a visionary, he was also a man with a beautiful soul and great wisdom,” LVMH’s billionaire boss Bernard Arnault said in a statement.
Abloh, a US national who also worked as a DJ and visual artist, had been men’s artistic director for Louis Vuitton since March 2018.
He had his own label, Off-White, and was a frequent collaborator and close associate of Kanye West. They met when both interned with Fendi.
Abloh was born in Rockford, Illinois, to parents who were immigrants from Ghana. His father managed a paint factory, and his mother was a seamstress.
Abloh went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison for his undergraduate degree in civil engineering, and then did a master’s degree in architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology.
In July this year, LVMH expanded his role, giving him a mandate to launch new brands and partner with existing ones in a variety of sectors beyond fashion.
He expanded into furniture design in 2017 and last, year, into vehicle design with Mercedes-Benz. In May, Abloh was the designer for the poet Amanda Gorman’s appearance on the cover of Vogue.
CNN reports that Abloh was named among Time magazine’s “100 most influential people” in 2018. In 2019, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago presented an exhibition of the work of “genre-bending artist and designer”.
“Abloh pioneers a practice that cuts across media and connects visual artists, musicians, graphic designers, fashion designers, and architects,” the museum wrote.
A statement on Virgil Abloh’s Instagram page said his family were devastated at the loss.
“For over two years, Virgil valiantly battled a rare, aggressive form of cancer, cardiac angiosarcoma,” the statement read.
“He chose to endure his battle privately since his diagnosis in 2019, undergoing numerous challenging treatments, all while helming several significant institutions that span fashion, art, and culture.
“Through it all, his work ethic, infinite curiosity, and optimism never wavered.”
Rapper Pharrell Williams, another friend, was among the first to offer a public tribute.
“My heart is broken, Virgil you were a kind, generous, thoughtful creative genius, your work as a human and your work as a spiritual being will live forever, Sending love and light to your wife, children, family and day ones, you’re with the Master now, shine,” he tweeted.
Abloh is survived by his wife Shannon, who was his high school girlfriend. They have two children, Lowe and Grey.
-with AAP
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