Image Source: ft.com

I met Virgil Abloh in 2017 at Cambridge of Boston. When I say met, I mean I was in the same lecture hall with him -me in the audience while he was on the podium- and listening to his presentation. During this famous lecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, one could sense that even though he was a designer commenting on design, he exuded a kind of rockstar energy. Not exactly the aggressive, electric energy of a rock star but a softer kind, one that drew to the lecture people aged from 18 to 78 years old -perhaps even older- and resulted in the first and perhaps last, tossing of athletic shoes on the podium of the Piper Hall with the golden curtain, to be signed by Virgil. He described these “soft touches” during his one hour -plus- lecture, and he has carried these same touches throughout the development of the brand OFF WHITE that he founded in 2013 in Milan, which continues to inspire people from many paths of life, even after his untimely death in November 2021.

Born in 1980 in Rockford, Illinois, he first studied as a political engineer at Madison University of Wisconsin and later acquired his master’s degree in architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology. He went on to become the art director for Kanye West and then for the Louis Vuitton men’s collection. Virgil traversed beyond professional stereotypes and offered his creativity as a DJ, designing clothes, watches, rugs, ceramic bricks, lamps, chairs and anything else that piqued his interest. "I don't believe in disciplines," Abloh told Dezeen. "We can use our architecture brain and do many things, not just what we're supposed to do."

Naomi Campbell Closed The Off-White Show in A Princess Diana-Inspired Look | elle.com

Virgil Jordan One | nike.com

Louis Vuitton Menswear | vogue.fr

His general strategic and design identity that occurs throughout his work, which he was generous enough to write up for us in one of his slides, can be summed up in seven points. These include readymades, which are recognisable objects that can trigger a new idea, references or quotes, as he did by incorporating the word “temporary” to the IKEA clocks that don’t display minutes and hours, the 3% approach, inspired by the logic for commercial success, according to which you only need to change 3% of something to make it popular and fresh, reconciliation between two different directions, the indication of the work in progress included in the final product so that it possesses the beauty of the unfinished, the social commentary that both validates and renders the product of the project pertinent and, lastly, a conversation both with the tourist and the purist in order to make the product comprehensible, thus popular, both to a broad audience and to a connoisseur of culture.

IKEA Collection | nssmag.com

IKEA Markedrad Homework | nicefeetth.com

In the end, he changed the typical way of thinking about design beyond the discourse enacted between privileged intellectuals and made it accessible to a broader, younger audience. According to him, design could be a bridge from the past, with one eye gazing towards the future. With slight alterations of classical works and simple, imaginative, and pop additions to otherwise boring pieces, he was able to transform the meaning of older objects and open it up to even more interpretations. Within a small period of time, he managed to become, even for younger designers, an important figure of the past, unfortunately not a present one anymore, which is able, on one hand, to inspire dialogue between multiple and different audiences and on the other, to impart his disposition of being open to reconsideration of their work, inspired by anything intriguing or relevant that occurs in the new world unfolding before us.

The lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qie5VITX6eQ

Virgil Abloh | The New York Times

Louis Vuitton 2019 Spring/Summer Collection | fashionnetwork.com

OFF WHITE Runway | The New York Times

Virgil Abloh Jean Prouve Anthony Chair | zorrobot.de

Virgil Abloh Jean Prouve Potence Wall Lamp | ozonweb.com

Virgil Abloh Vitra | stirworld.com