On this day, we honor Virgil Abloh, who passed on November 28, 2021, as a visionary who transformed luxury fashion, merging street culture, art, and storytelling into a bold, globally influential language.
On this day, we honor Virgil Abloh, who passed on November 28, 2021, as a visionary who transformed luxury fashion, merging street culture, art, and storytelling into a bold, globally influential language.
November 28, 2025
On this day, we honor Virgil Abloh, who passed on November 28, 2021, as a visionary who transformed luxury fashion, merging street culture, art, and storytelling into a bold, globally influential language.
His work with Off-White and Louis Vuitton menswear reshaped the industry, leaving a lasting legacy of innovation, cultural dialogue, and unmistakable style.
Growing up in the Midwest, far from the big four fashion capitals, forced him to build taste through observation, self-study, and cultural archaeology. That racial, institutional gave him a rare vantage point. It let him see the limits of European luxury from the outside, and therefore see how to reshape it. His architecture training sharpened this instinct: form follows function, but ideas follow culture. He applied that principle relentlessly.
His work with Off-White and Louis Vuitton menswear reshaped the industry, leaving a lasting legacy of innovation, cultural dialogue, and unmistakable style.
With Off-White, Abloh constructed more than a brand, he built a cultural operating system that reshaped how fashion communicates. His signature quotation marks, industrial diagonal stripes, and zip-tied accessories became instantly recognizable symbols, merging streetwear irreverence with high-concept design.
Celebrities from Kanye West to Beyoncé, Justin Bieber, Bella Hadid embraced his pieces, amplifying their cultural resonance and cementing Off-White as the definitive bridge between street and luxury.
Abloh’s appointment to Louis Vuitton in 2018 marked a transformation of the house itself. He infused one of fashion’s most storied brands with his innovative spirit, treating Vuitton as a platform for cultural storytelling rather than simply a custodian of heritage. His runway shows became immersive experiences, runways painted like rainbows, models reflecting global youth culture, and music, art, and performance woven into each collection. He introduced a new form of luxury, one defined by intellectual engagement, cultural awareness, and inclusivity, while retaining the craftsmanship and elegance of Vuitton.
Abloh’s power came from his ability to turn subculture into scripture. He took the everyday, the hoodie, the sneaker, the graphic tee, and reclassified it as luxury not by altering the garment but by shifting the cultural context around it. He proved that luxury was not only about materials; it was also about meaning.
His legacy is not just in the clothes but in the confidence he injected into a generation. Abloh didn’t design for the elite; he designed for the global creative class, the kids who studied his interviews like sacred texts.
On this day, we recognize that he authored an entirely new era of fashion, one where culture, identity, and intellect became the true markers of luxury. And that legacy is still building, still booming, still echoing across the world Virgil Abloh had transformed.
