At the end of April, online retailer Ssense gave us one more reason to give it all our money: It dropped an exclusive capsule collection created by Off-White founder Virgil Abloh.
To supplement the release, Ssense caught up with the designer for an in-depth interview, in which he discussed everything from the recent surge of luxury streetwear to being named a 2015 LVMH semifinalist to the inspiration behind the Before and After capsule collection. But one of the most interesting and revealing parts of the Q&A was when he talked about the promo video and how it was intended to inspire others by removing the mystery of the design process.
“I’ve always been a fan of a documentary versus just watching the finished film, or a fan of the director’s cut. Cause it allows you to dream even more once you know a little more of behind the scenes,” he told Ssense. “That’s what I love about this project: the title Before and After and the whole energy of, you can see into the creative process and you’re looking at the final result at the same time.”
Abloh went on to explain how inspiring and supporting young creatives is very much a part of Off-White’s DNA. But he says it’s a symbiotic relationship: While he mentors and fosters up-and-coming talent, they, in turn, bring a fresh perspective to the brand’s future projects.
“Right now I’m interested in focusing and doing less. I’m focused a lot on the furniture, I’m focused a lot on the image-making surrounding the stuff," Abloh said. “The main thing I’m focusing on is print: I’m starting a publishing arm. I’m putting out different works that I’m creating in between and around the collections, just so there’s some sort of physical copy—a representation of all these thoughts. Cause what I’m learning is that the process of making clothes, showing them to buyers, showing them to editors, and then it goes, and then it’s gone, isn’t as lasting as I would hope. Some of my first collections, I’m still on those ideas, but they only exist in my head! So I’m working on a few books around a few poignant projects, so that I don’t have to go so fast.”
To read the full Q&A article, and to cop pieces from the Before and After capsule collection, head over to Ssense’s website.
