Virgil Abloh Chosen as One of Time's Most Influential People of 2018

Just weeks removed from taking on a new role at Louis Vuitton, Virgil Abloh's accolades keep piling up as the Off-White designer has been named one of Time magazine's most influential people of 2018.

Abloh's blurb was penned by the one and only Takashi Murakami, who recalls meeting a young Virgil over 10 years ago. "[Virgil] visited my office in Tokyo while working with Kanye West," writes Murakami. "I had no way of recognizing the shy youth’s talents that were to blossom in the years to come."

Although Abloh's Off-White x Nike output is not explicitly mentioned, it goes without saying that "The Ten" collection has played a large role in the designer's mounting buzz over the last year.

"Kids’ fervor for the stripe patterns and arrow marks he created for his fashion label, Off-White, is not a passing trend; rather, it shows how Virgil’s young followers, with their unclouded eyes, have been seeing right into the core of his creativity all along," says Murakami, who adds that Abloh's recent Louis Vuitton appointment will allow "his full merit [to] be understood even more widely around the globe."

With two new Nike Air VaporMax designs and a European-exclusive Air Jordan 1 already under his belt in 2018, Abloh is expected to release several new "The Ten" colorways throughout the year.