In Paris, France, fashion week marks the time of designer’s display of their creative work to the public. The Off-White collection showcased the posthumous work of Virgil Abloh, who died from cancer late November 2021.
Abloh gained traction as Creative Director for Kanye West, and Pyrex Vision, hisT-shirt brand that became a sudden streetwear phenomenon. He was appointed head of Louis Vuitton’s menswear in 2018. Off-White is “defining the gray area between black and white, as Off-White.” His brand is a cultural deconstruction, and Abloh’s background in civil engineering at the University of Wisconsin–Madison speaks to his ability to re-innovate culture.
Supermodels Naomi Cambell, Cindy Crawford, Kendall Jenner, Bella and Gigi Hadid, and many more, walked the show. The half Palestinian Hadid sisters knew Abloh personally, and shared grief at his passing. Bella Hadid shared, “He will be deeply missed, cherished, and celebrated by me and all the people and industries that have been lucky enough to work around and know the true supernova behind this man.”
The collection showcased the designer’s incredible propensity for design, beginning with a consortium of sleek, modern streetwear looks. Pantsuits and sleek dresses traversed into puffer jackets and some apocalypse-chic vests. A model carried a proverbial “white flag” that read: Question Everything. Music was provided live by DJ Jeff Mills, who played syncopated beats with intermittent melody drops from Bone Thugs and Harmony.
Thought provoking in style, the collection took an intricate approach to color, in keeping with the brand’s concept of white, black, and colors in between. The collection began on a black scale, would mix in periwinkles, return to black, and then continue into gray. Then blues and greens would enter, and with a quick return to black, would switch to a light scale yellows and creams. Then the collection would return to blacks, switch to browns, and each continuous change marked an ever evolving transition in the interplay of color scale seen through design.
Gowns began to work their way into the collection, and nearing towards the end of the collection, incredible feats of design lit up the runway. Ball gowns and sleek sequined dresses were paired with helmet like hats, enlarged accessory scissors on a chain, and applique leaves. For the grand finale, DJ Jeff Mills stopped his syncopated beats, and the final models walked out. In an elegant white ball gown, top, and helmet combo, the final model walked to a graceful melody, as the elegant swansong of the highly innovative, thought-provoking, and graceful Virgil Abloh.