Photo Via Coda Agency
Revolutionizing the avant-garde and pushing street wear to the next level, Virgil Abloh has emerged as one of the greatest designers of all time. Inspired by architecture, fascinated by the blank space between black and white and captivated by the curiosity of the future, Kanye West’s creative consultant has made an established name for himself in the world of luxury fashion. If you don’t know him by name, you will definitely know him by his brand “Off-White.” A metaphor for a blank canvas, “Off-White,” portrays the creative space where Abloh is free to express his artistic visions. Each collection represents a clean – “Off-White” – slate where a new story can begin.
An engineer by trade; a DJ by choice, Abloh records his musical energy through the rhythm of his designs. He aims to capture the image of defiance within youth culture, where the reinvention of fashion is untraditionally “Frankensteined” and pieced together. Utilizing Instagram as the magazine of tomorrow, he communicates the significance of his brand on a wide-scale global platform. With prices ranging from at least $100 to well over $2,000, “Off-White” is meant to target the purchasing power of the elite, while attracting the imagination of the youth. This dichotomy confuses the critics, who question Abloh’s purpose of marking street wear at runway prices; however, combining haute-couture with a simple t-shirt or hoodie, Abloh defends his position in redefining simple fashion: “This concept of a brand, the image, what the clothing looks like, that’s free. Go make your own version of it. It’s meant to inspire.” Virgil Abloh is not designing clothes, he’s designing the inspiration behind a movement.
Photo Via The Source
Each article has a purpose, and this one is written to guide the young fashionista, who fears rejection in a world of complex fashion. Thinking of “Off-White” while on college budget? “Off-White’s” high price point is simply not made for adolescents with little to no income of their own. To read deeper into Abloh’s collections is to enter into a mystical world of unconventional normalcy, where you push the boundaries of style to create your own version of the brand. Understand Abloh’s brands’ meaning, and you’ve won the lottery. Living on a college budget is synonymous with Abloh’s ironic portrayal of art through his use of quotation marks: A budget is not restricted to the confinements of money, but rather, just as Abloh “conveys,” to the extent to which you allow yourself to break traditional viewpoints and look at style through a new lens.
Grab a piece of paper and a black pen. Now, in quotes, write the first thing that comes to your mind. “Freedom.” That was mine. To me, Virgil Abloh’s brand “Off-White” represents the new world of fashion, where each individual has the opportunity to be a walking billboard of their unique quirkiness. To me, fashion is not a statement, it’s a lifestyle. To me, fashion is its own community, where opposing ideas are encouraged and coloring outside of the lines is celebrated. A time where traditional retail faces an uncertain future is a time to make your mark and change the standards of the industry. I end this article with one everlasting question for you: what is fashion?