Virgil Abloh told The Cut in January that his new cut and sew label, Off-White, was a natural progression from Pyrex Vision and a project that allows him to try and bridge the gap between streetwear and high fashion. Since the official announcement, and being released at select retailers, Off-White has garnered attention from Abloh fans, Pyrex fans, and even celebrities (What up Drake?). Soon enough, women will get a chance to rock Abloh's creations.
The designer has teased images to his first foray into womenswear, mostly through Instagram and custom pieces for Sky Ferreira. But here is your first look at the collection, one that Beyoncé will (probably) happily co-sign.
Style.com sat down with Abloh to talk about the women's collection, what his inspiration is for his next men's line, and whether or not he misses working on Pyrex Vision.
On Martha Stewart and Montauk influencing his first men's collection and whether or not he'll carry that into next season:
"[Laughs] Yeah, I’m super into that still. That’s a part of my personality, so I’m still on that sort of aesthetic—I’m not ready to move from it so fast. But I have a different theme building for the men’s. It’s all this Baja surf-inspired collection. It’s very coastal still—it’s more like Cali, and it’s called 'Moving Still' and it’s about waves. It’s a graphic story, but then it’s also this sort of hippie, poncho-wearing, drug rug interpretation. In order for me to be happy with the season, there has to be a cool name to it. It has to have a theme, but then still the graphic-based aesthetic and prints on clothes."
On his ultimate goals for Off-White:
"My goal is to transcend outside of the streetwear and surprise people in a way. I’m very honored to be selling at the stores that I’m at. These are the places that I love, so the goal for me is to intersect with a wider audience and just be a representative of what’s happening in the street but have that square footage in the stores to kind of attract new fashion consumers."
On whether or not he misses working on Pyrex Vision:
"My whole idea from the beginning was that it was sort of a limited thing—I wasn’t that into repeating and keep making that product. I have this whole obsession with collecting early Raf Simons pieces, and I like that the brand for myself, Pyrex, has a definitive start. I like that people who are fans of that can seek out and find that piece and it’ll feel nostalgic in a way."
On what it feels like to express his vision through Off-White:
"That’s mainly why I kind of wanted to start Off-White in this way, because I’ve been very collaborative in my whole design career, so I had to remind myself, like, what’s my own favorite color? That’s kind of where the name came from—just sort of a reminder to myself because it helps me in collaborative projects, too, like, this is my specific opinion without having to compromise it. I can paint a whole world, so to speak, so that’s what Off-White is to me. I’m honored to have a platform to create in. I’m just fulfilling a trend that I see on the street and things—just fulfilling a niche to be a young, credible designer with valid ideas."
[via Style.com]
