A couple of months ago, before the heat of summer had gained its fiery intensity, I found myself down a rabbit hole exploring the life and legacy of Virgil Abloh. Of course, I knew his name, knew Off-White and his connection to Kanye, but as he passed away when I was just 15, I was too young to understand the weight of his influence on culture; I had not yet unearthed his creativity for myself.
There is no debate that his career and legacy are defined by success — ingenious collections from his self-started fashion house, Off-White, as well as his work at Louis Vuitton as artistic director of menswear. Through these brands, he created a new niche in the fashion world, aiming to bridge the gap between high fashion and street style, a melding of style and culture.
Although he passed away almost five years ago from cancer, in true internet fashion, there is a vast archive on YouTube of his guest lectures at universities across America, conversations with fellow creatives like M.I.A. and Naomi Campbell, and interviews with just about every major news publishing house. No matter the forum, he speaks with such conviction and clarity on his creative process, style, and structure; he explores what it means to make a compelling, creative product.
Listening to his stories of creating sneakers at Off-White, integrating architecture into the fashion process, and watching the runways themselves, just about each of his creative pursuits serves as a source of motivation in my own quest to become a creative. In immersing myself in his life, legacy, and vocation, I am reminded of these simple lessons for living a creative life, like Abloh’s.
“A thing that I tell aspiring creators is that […] the only way to get to the end means is to start your domino effect. Which is basically: put out bad work. I, for one, am not a perfectionist, and it’s such a gratifying concept.”
Abloh’s guest lecture titled “Insert Complicated Title Here” at Harvard appeared on my YouTube Explore page in those early summer months among vlogs of girls living in various cities throughout the world and reality TV compilations. He speaks with such a casual confidence, as if he is sitting across from a protégé at a coffee shop, not at one of the oldest colleges in America. In this talk, his ease makes the lesson clear: creativity begins with trust in your process.
Using his own designs, he recounted his foundation as an artist and argued that failure is not trying and not achieving the desired outcome. Instead, failure is choosing not to start a project because you are paralyzed by fear.
In just about every public speech, conversation, or interview Abloh gives, he relates creativity to a facet of his identity; he is more than an architect or fashion designer: he is a creative. It is not something he became, but something he inherently pursued and honed.
This idea reminds me of the bible for many creatives: “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron. In the workbook, Cameron reasons that everyone has creative ideas. It’s a choice whether we act on them.
Instead of focusing on the outcome, whether commercially or aesthetically, create; the audience and success will follow.
“Most of these hurdles are self-imposed, as designers like they literally don’t exist. There is no failure.”
Abloh’s last collection with Vuitton was Spring/Summer 2022, titled “Virgil Was Here,” debuting as his posthumous swan song. It was Virgil at his most prolific; a thesis statement of his creative ethos and passion for design. Models wove through a forest of thin trees that scattered the stage, some dressed formally — colorful, playful suits that wrapped the models’ bodies — others donning street-style elements of jerseys and tracksuits. Juxtaposition dominated the collection; each ensemble didn’t fit into one neat category, much like Abloh’s career.
As fireworks lit the sky of the Art Basel venue following the models’ rendezvous, Virgil’s voice rang out as an important reminder to any creative:
“there is no limit; life is so short that you can’t waste even a day subscribing to what someone thinks you can do versus knowing what you can do”
– Virgil Abloh
I cannot find the words adequate to sum up the many ways Virgil Abloh has shifted and shaped culture, served as a pillar for Black creatives worldwide, and, most selfishly, encouraged me to reanalyze creativity as a practice, not simply a profession.
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