Virgil Abloh- Career Timeline
In celebration of Virgil Abloh, arguably the industry's most influential designer.
Social media has been mourning the loss of fashion icon Virgil Abloh. If you are unfamiliar with his contribution and works, we have accumulated a timeline of important facts to help you gain insight into the impact and legacy that is Virgil.
- Virgil was born on September 30, 1980, in Chicago to parents from Ghana. He went on to earn a master's degree in engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology. He married his high school sweetheart Shannon and had two children.
- In 2009 Virgil interned at Fendi alongside rapper Kanye West. Then CEO Michael Burke was highly impressed; he eventually went on to work at Louis Vuitton, where he played a key role in Abloh being chosen as artistic director.
- In 2011, Kanye and Abloh would go on to work together- Abloh was announced creative director at DONDA, Kanye West’s creative agency. A year later, he was tasked with art directing the album art for Watch the Throne, which saw him nominated for a Grammy. At the agency, Virgil also oversaw the artwork on West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and Yeezus albums and is also credited as creative director on A$AP Rocky’s debut album Long.Live.A$AP.
4. In 2012, Abloh teamed up with his DONDA colleagues Matthew M. Williams, Heron Preston, Justin Saunders, and Florencia Galarza (now an ambassador for Adidas Football) to launch Been Trill. Originally a DJ crew, the collective soon started breaking the internet when they started making high-priced streetwear notable for its Tumblr-style graphics and $100 shoelaces.
5. In 2012 he also launched Pyrex Vision, a small boutique of couture streetwear. While this brand was just a hobby, it infiltrated the hip-hop scene heavily and would later become a staple piece in the genre of music.
6. 2013 saw the birth of what is stylized today as Off-White™. Womenswear would follow a year later. Described as “the gray area between black and white,” Virgil would go on to have Louis Vuitton’s parent group LVMH become parent investor in the Off-White™company. (2020)
7. By 2015, Virgil’s Off-White™ operation was skyrocketing in Paris and penetrating global markets. Abloh was nominated for the coveted LVMH Young Fashion Designer Prize, alongside names including Vetements’ Demna Gvasalia and Simon Porte of Jacquemus.
8. Within the next 3 years, Virgil would go on to do collaborations with companies like Ikea, the Jordan brand, Nike, and design an original outfit for Serena Williams to wear throughout the 2018 US Open, a collaboration with Nike. He has designed over 30 sneakers for Nike.
9. In 2018 Virgil Abloh was listed as one of TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world. He also became the first African American artistic director of men’s wear at Louis Vuitton.
10. By 2020 Virgil would have crafted designs for brands like Evian, Timberland, Moet & Chandon, even a private jet for rapper Drake. Another rapper, Jeezy, would go to release an album entitled Twenty/20 Pyrex Vision, a play on the name of the classic brand that swept the streets in 2012.
11. In 2021 Abloh completed designs for Mercedes Benz, first on 2020’s G-Class and then this year’s Project MAYBACH. He also designed a custom Patek for Drake.
While legacy is in the work you do, it is also fostered by relationships. News of his passing led to many kind words from his peers who praised him and said he was not one to be shy to shower those praises right back.
