THE JOURNAL
From left to right: Off-White SS17 runway; photograph by Mr Matteo Volta/IMAXTREE.COM. Off-White AW22 runway; photograph by IMAXTREE.COM. Off-White SS20 runway; photograph by Mr Isidor Montag/IMAXTREE.COM. Off-White SS18 runway; photograph by Mr Andrea Adriani/IMAXTREE.COM. Off-White AW19 runway; photograph by Mr Salvatore Dragone/IMAXTREE.COM
It was in 2012 that the late and celebrated fashion designer Mr Virgil Abloh made his first big step into the world of luxury fashion with the launch of a brand that he called Pyrex Vision. The label, which had started as Abloh’s blog, was instantly subversive and blurred the lines between luxury and streetwear. Recognisable American wardrobe staples, including Polo flannel shirts, basketball shorts, Champion hoodies, T-shirts and socks, had “Pyrex”, “13” and “23” printed across them. Abloh also incorporated Renaissance artwork prints, a theme he continued for many years. It may have been his first venture into fashion design, but Pyrex Vision was hugely successful. Every release sold and the clothes were widely worn by fashion tastemakers.
The name, however, did not last. Abloh rebranded it as Off-White the following year after teaming up with Messrs Marcelo Burlon, Claudio Antonioli and Davide De Giglio, the founders of the luxury fashion company New Guards Group. The deal came after negative press directed at Abloh’s appropriation of Ralph Lauren and Champion garments and a rumoured lawsuit with glassware company Pyrex. The new name was a clean slate. Abloh was able to set up production and manufacturing in Italy using the resources of the New Guards Group and launched Off-White into the budding streetwear stratosphere.
Abloh described Off-White as the “grey area between black and white”. It quickly became one of the most well-known labels on the planet. A decade after its inception, Off-White can be seen everywhere, from the streets of Milan to NBA courts in the US. The diverse customer base is testament to Abloh’s ability to embrace the worlds of sports, music, luxury and art.
Off-White FW16 runway. Photograph by Catwalkpix
He may have been widely misunderstood and criticised as a designer who just printed on T-shirts, but Abloh pushed ahead regardless, turning critics into fans one collection at a time. In 2016, Off-White presented its first men’s runway show. The autumn/winter collection featured signature staples, including quotation marks, white stripes across garments, patchwork trousers and “Nebraska”-print knitwear inspired by a vintage Raf Simons shirt.
Streetwear in the true sense of the word is not about product, but culture. It’s about making something of yourself, informed and inspired by the culture (in other words the streets) around you. Abloh, who trained as an architect, was famously a self-taught fashion designer – though he always resisted the title – and built a community with a DIY attitude around Off-White. His success showed young designers from minority backgrounds that there was a space in fashion for them and they didn’t have to attend a major fashion school to achieve their dreams.
“When people buy Off-White, they are buying into the culture and symbolism it represents”
This entrepreneurship was built into Off-White’s anti-establishment DNA. The brand used poets, skaters and rappers alongside professional models on the runway. When people buy Off-White, they are buying into the culture and symbolism it represents.
The term streetwear, which sometimes had negative connotations and was used to discredit Abloh’s work, is now a crucial part of luxury fashion. Major luxury brands, including Balenciaga and Dior, now rely on the sale of hoodies and sweatshirts to boost commercial growth. Off-White can take some of the credit for this. Abloh was one of the first designers to elevate streetwear with luxe fabrics and give it a high-fashion sensibility.
One of Abloh’s greatest strengths was his understanding of culture and his constant communication with young people. Many of his collections for Off-White challenged ideas of ownership and what it means to truly possess something. An excellent example of this was the spring/summer 2016 menswear collection, Blue Collar. It drew its inspiration from working-class professions and featured shirts and jackets made from vintage Royal Mail uniforms and custom lapel pins that read “Working Class”. The irony was not lost on Abloh that these garments would be beyond the reach of the people who inspired them and only white-collar workers would be able to afford them.
Off-White AW18 backstage. Photograph by Mr Jason Lloyd Evans
His ability to incorporate sharp tailoring into his collections and merge it with a streetwear sensibility was seriously underrated. The Off-White Fall 2018 collection, Business Casual, is one of many examples of the skill with which Abloh fused men’s tailoring with streetwear. Models wearing baggy suits, overcoats asymmetric sweaters, shirts and polos paced down the runway. The collection was a casual reinterpretation of common work attire. Double-knee trousers paired with a shirt, windbreaker and a loosened tie showed the dissolution of office dress codes in a way that still felt sophisticated.
A few months after the presentation of that 2018 collection, Abloh was appointed artistic director of Louis Vuitton menswear. LVMH CEO Mr Bernard Arnault recognised Abloh’s ability as a cultural communicator and his resonance with a Gen-Z audience, which would help the Louis Vuitton brand maintain its cachet with the next generation of customers. That steadfast belief in the Off-White brand was confirmed last year when LVMH acquired a 60 per cent stake in Off-White.
“His ability to incorporate sharp tailoring into his collections and merge it with a streetwear sensibility was seriously underrated”
Even after Abloh’s death, Off-White continues to be a brand that breaks down cultural barriers, is always plugged into the zeitgeist and brings a refreshingly different point of view to the Paris runways. A small streetwear start-up evolved into a globally recognised fashion brand and propelled Abloh to be one of the most recognisable figures in fashion. Authentically and unapologetically himself, he proved that it was possible to succeed without doing things the traditional way. He openly rejected the conventional path of a fashion designer and forged his own way. His legacy continues to burn bright.
The people featured in this story are not associated with and do not endorse MR PORTER or the products shown