Virgil Abloh passes away at 41: FMD pays tribute to him

Virgil Abloh passed away on Sunday November 28th in Chicago at the age of 41 of cancer, which he had been battling privately for several years.

'We are all shocked after this terrible news. Virgil was not only a genius designer, a visionary, he was also a man with a beautiful soul and great wisdom. The LVMH family joins me in this moment of great sorrow, and we are all thinking of his loved ones after the passing of their husband, their father, their brother or their friend,' said Bernard Arnault, LVMH Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in a statement.

'Virgil Abloh was a visionary fashion designer. Driven by great creativity, he renewed the codes of fashion, founded an incredibly successful house and brought all his talent and keen sense of innovation to Louis Vuitton. But above all, he was an exceptional man through his humanity, his openness to others, his generosity of heart and his willingness to break down barriers,' said Ralph Toledano, President of the Federation de la Haute Couture et de la Mode.

'He chose to endure his battle privately since his diagnosis in 2019, undergoing numerous challenging treatments, all while helming several significant institutions that span fashion, art, and culture,' Abloh's family said in a statement on the designer's Instagram account.

Abloh was Artistic Director of Louis Vuitton's men's collections since March 2018. He was also Founder and Artistic Director of Off-White since 2013, a majority stake of which was acquired by LVMH in July 2021. Off-White was among the finalists of the LVMH Prize in 2015 and that same year he presented his first collections during Paris Fashion Week.

Known for merging streetwear with luxury he won several awards throughout his career such as the British Fashion Awards Urban Luxe award and International Designer of the Year at the GQ Men of the Year Awards in 2017. In 2018 he was named one of Time magazine's most influential people.

Born in Rockford, Illinois in 1980 Abloh was an artist, architect, engineer, creative director, and designer with a degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Wisconsin Madison, and a Master's Degree in Architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology. He is survived by his wife Shannon Abloh and his children, Lowe and Grey.

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