A Look Back at Virgil Abloh's Biggest Career Accolades

Image via Complex Original

When: 2012

The connection that Virgil Abloh and Kanye West have is no secret. The two were initially introduced to each other by West’s former manager, John Monopoly, back in the 2000s. A few years later, the two would intern together at Fendi in 2009. Eventually, the connection would lead to West hiring Abloh to be the creative director of his creative agency, DONDA, which was founded in 2012. It was a running joke that DONDA was just “Virgil’s laptop.” The agency, which also employed names such as Joe Perez, Matthew M. Williams, Jerry Lorenzo, Justin Saunders, and Samuel Ross created West’s visuals throughout the 2010s. Tour designs, album covers, and overall art direction for projects like Yeezus and Cruel Summer were among some of the most memorable work. Abloh’s work on 2011’s Watch the Throne even earned him a Grammy nomination for Best Recording Package. While the specifics of Abloh’s time at DONDA are not well-documented, the final products helped define an entire generation of music for plenty of people.

“Virgil’s role at DONDA was to figure out how aspiration could be turned into actual projects,” Michael Rock told GQ in 2019. “It was about going from minute details to the broadest possible reach: You create music for a show, then you create a stage for the show, then you create the media for the show, then you create the effects for the show, and then you create merchandise for the whole thing, then maybe you create a pavilion that travels with an art project by Vanessa Beecroft.”

When: 2012

While working at DONDA, Abloh also started a side venture along with Matthew M. Williams, Heron Preston, and Justin Saunders titled Been Trill. What was initially intended to be a DJ collective to host parties quickly morphed into a full-fledged brand. Influenced heavily by bootleg culture, the brand became known for its dripping “Been Trill” logo and use of giant italicized hashtags on various items, a subtle precursor to some of the signature logos that would represent Abloh’s Off-White years later. Been Trill even operated a pop-up retail space on Canal Street in New York, an infamous destination for bootlegging, to add to the ambience. The brand quickly developed a cult following in the fashion world for its immediately recognizable graphics and co-signs from stars such as Kanye West, ASAP Rocky, and Rihanna. Collaborators included Hood By Air, Stussy, and Travis Scott. Just as quickly as Been Trill became the “it” brand, it faded into irrelevancy. In 2015, the brand was sold to PacSun and was essentially stripped of its “cool” factor in the process. Nevertheless, Been Trill caught lightning in a bottle for those handful of years and acted as a launching pad for all of its co-founders into much bigger ventures.

When: 2013

Fresh off the success of Pyrex Vision, Abloh launched his streetwear-leaning luxury brand, Off-White, in 2013 with the financial backing of Italy’s New Guards Group. Many of the motifs introduced with Pyrex Vision were repurposed in Off-White such as collegiate lettering and the use of Renaissance paintings as graphics on T-shirts and hoodies. New symbols are introduced too like quotation marks, arrows, and construction-theme diagonal stripes that would become the brand’s signature motifs moving forward. Across the next eight years, Off-White would become one of the most in-demand brands in the world. Its yellow industrial belts would become one of the most recognizable accessories of an era, for better or worse depending on who you ask, and its popularity would further the acceptance of streetwear in the once waspy world of luxury fashion.

On the runway, Abloh also continued to push the envelope too. The clothes were obviously important, but it was always about more than just the material items for Abloh. Take, for instance, his Fall/Winter 2020 presentation that opened with tap dancer Cartier Williams performing in a T-shirt that read “I Support Young Black Businesses” in bold red lettering. He always kept his streetwear sensibilities intertwined too. Perhaps the most obvious example came during his Fall/Winter 2021 presentation which was highlighted by various ball gowns that had been fused with elements of Arc’teryx shell jackets.

When: 2017

Arguably one of the most important sneaker collaborations we have ever seen, Abloh released “The Ten” in 2017. The 10-sneaker collection was Abloh’s interpretation of Nike’s most iconic (and in some cases newest) silhouettes: the Air Jordan 1, Air Force 1, Air Presto, Air Max 90, Air Max 97, Blazer, Zoom Fly SP, Hyperdunk, VaporMax, and Converse Chuck Taylor. His vision was achieved through now-signature additions like zip ties, orange tabs, and quotations used to call out specific materials and elements of each model like “AIR” or “FOAM.” The big project was given an equally as big reveal as Abloh held an “Off Campus” summit on Wall Street, which hosted speakers from legendary figures like director Spike Lee to pro skater Eric Koston. Of course, select attendants also got a chance at copping the coveted pairs that day as well. 

What we know now is that “The Ten” was only a starting point for Abloh’s work with Nike. In the years that followed, the multi-hyphenate would continue to flip Nike designs on their head with his unorthodox design language. He would design models for tennis legend Serena Williams, introduce lifestyle sneakers fitted with rubber track spikes, deconstruct the Air Jordan 5 and place swiss cheese-like holes across its upper that the wearer was meant to carve out with an X-Acto knife if they wanted to, and craft various Air Force 1s to mark his museum exhibits. In 2021 alone, he released 50 different colorways of the Nike Dunk. Just weeks prior to his death, he delivered his take on the Air Jordan 2 Low complete with faux crumbled midsoles to represent the natural aging of product. And there are still more sneakers in the pipeline: a redesigned Air Force 1 Mid and Blazer Low, among them. In a marriage of two of Abloh’s creative spaces, a series of Louis Vuitton Air Force 1s is slated to release in 2022. 

Abloh’s collaborations with Nike redefined hype. While not everyone may have liked all of them everyone wanted at least one of them. They became a status symbol for a new generation. And although hype and exorbitant resell prices were attached to his work, that was far from his intention. He just wanted to make items that had meaning.

“It’s the perfect partnership. A lot of my ability to create is with the freedom and respect for the brand. I’m trying to restore that feeling that I had when I got my first pair when they originally came out,” Abloh told Complex in 2020 when speaking on his collaborative partnership with Nike. “I’m trying to give that to a young customer today and to the culture itself. So they give me a lot of freedom, I think, because I respect the brand, the craft and the heritage of sport as much as I do. So I take it with great responsibility.”

When: 2018

In March 2018, Abloh made history when he became the first Black designer appointed as the men’s artistic director of Louis Vuitton. He was the successor to Kim Jones who would go on to be the artistic director of Dior Homme, a position he still holds currently. 

“This opportunity to think through what the next chapter of design and luxury will mean at a brand that represents the pinnacle of luxury was always a goal in my wildest dreams,” Abloh told the New York Times when discussing his new role back in 2018. “And to show a younger generation that there is no one way anyone in this kind of position has to look is a fantastically modern spirit in which to start.”

In a way, Abloh getting this position at Louis Vuitton is the manifestation of that iconic Tommy Ton photo from 2009. We all know the one by now. Model, actor, and close friend of Abloh, Luka Sabbat, perhaps illustrated the importance of Abloh’s appointment best for GQ. “Louis Vuitton felt like a team win. It was a milestone that was bigger than the clothes, or anything else. It was, like, the biggest linkup ever.”

When: 2019

On June 10, 2019, Virgil Abloh’s “Figures of Speech” exhibit opened to the public at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, a tangible testament to just how much the man was able to create. Among the highlights included images of fellow Chicago legend Chief Keef in an unreleased Supreme Box Logo t-shirt bearing the colors of the Pan-African flag, a table displaying dozens of sneaker samples ranging from Air Jordan 4s to Air Prestos, a sector dedicated to Pyrex Vision complete with a projection of the original ad campaign, and displays showcasing arguably his most well-known album cover work, Yeezus. Along with the exhibit, which ran until Sept. 29, 2019, Abloh made sure to give fans who may not be able to attend the space a piece of his vision through special apparel drops ranging from all-blue pairs of his Off-White x Nike Air Force 1 to neon-colored trucker caps bearing Off-White signature arrows logos.

“That journey is essentially what we’re putting on display here so that kids coming to the city have a reflection of what they see in the outside world in a different context,” Abloh told Complex of the exhibit back in 2019.

When: 2019

In November 2019, Virgil Abloh launched his MARKERAD collection of home goods with IKEA. The affordable items, which included numberless wall clocks, wooden chairs with door stops on the legs, and backlit prints of the Mona Lisa, each further democratized Abloh’s takes on luxury design. Perhaps the most sought after items from the drops were the rugs made to look like a giant IKEA receipts, patches of “WET GRASS,” and persian rugs with “KEEP OFF” ironically printed at the center. 

“It’s about elevating the anonymous, everyday icons that we use without noticing. When we put a doorstop on one of the legs of an ordinary chair we create something unexpected–an interruption,” said Abloh in an official press release for the collection.