Louis Vuitton puts Virgil Abloh as its new Menswear Designer

Virgil Abloh is now the first African-American art director for Louis Vuitton. Abloh, of Ghanian descent, was born and raised in the Chicago area, but first made contact with LV CEO Michael Burke, who was with Fendi at the time Virgil and Kanye held an internship with Fendi. Despite having no formal fashion design background, Virgil cultivated his knack for the category and founded OFF WHITE in 2013; two years later, he was awarded the LVMH Young Designer’s Prize. Abloh replaces former art director Kim Jones, who recently took the helm for Christian Dior

:pimp:
 
This was my first introduction to him. Who would've thought that this guy would be coveted by LV? Not a fan of anything associated with him, but I wish him continued success.
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sooperhooper said:
Hmm. Never thought about it that way. I guess they realized that many minorities will go broke in order to look rich.
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I work in Luxury Fashion/Jewelry. LV is one of our competitors.

I’ll say this...this “minority that goes broke in order to look rich” is an EXTREME minority in luxury marketshare. Don’t let our own personal social spheres or even who the brand uses to help influence fool you.

As far as Off White, Virgil took streetwear to a diff level because of quality and how he presents his brand. Brands care about engagement, influence and innovation. Virgil is a top contender in all of those categories; along with his relationships with the powers at be. Much respect to him for realizing what he was capable of and hopefully leading the way for others to come.

I’m just as excited to see Dior Homme put back in the light with Kim Jones taking over.
 
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hennessy beach said:
I work in Luxury Fashion/Jewelry. LV is one of our competitors.

I’ll say this...this “minority that goes broke in order to look rich” is an EXTREME minority in luxury marketshare. Don’t let our own personal social spheres or even who the label uses to help influence fool you.

As far as Off White, Virgil took streetwear to a diff level because of quality and how he presents his brand. Brands care about engagement, influence and innovation. Virgil is a top contender in all of those categories; along with his relationships with the powers at be. Much respect to him for realizing what he was capable of and hopefully leading the way for others to come.

I’m just as excited to see Dior Homme put back in the light with Kim Jones taking over.
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Yea, im gonna have to disagree with you there.

Virgil didnt take streetwear to another level. Stussy took streetwear to another level. Jebbia took streetwear to another level. Nigo took streetwear to another level. I could even argue that Ye took streetwear and bullied it into high end. Virgil did none of these things. in addition, would people even know who virgil was without ye?

this is the guy who made been trill and pyrex vision... let that sink in... this guy's design is trash man.

before the nike collab, off white wasnt even popping like it is now. and as stated before, virgil's nike collab (as great as it was) was a complete stolen idea from elisa van joolen (virgil wanted to collab with her. she declined so he took her style and ran off with it).

its cool he's getting his $$. but dont try to give credit to someone who doesnt deserve it.
 
W)taps said:
Yea, im gonna have to disagree with you there.

Virgil didnt take streetwear to another level. Stussy took streetwear to another level. Jebbia took streetwear to another level. Nigo took streetwear to another level. I could even argue that Ye took streetwear and bullied it into high end. Virgil did none of these things. in addition, would people even know who virgil was without ye?

this is the guy who made been trill and pyrex vision... let that sink in... this guy's design is trash man.

before the nike collab, off white wasnt even popping like it is now. and as stated before, virgil's nike collab (as great as it was) was a complete stolen idea from elisa van joolen (virgil wanted to collab with her. she declined so he took her style and ran off with it).

its cool he's getting his $$. but dont try to give credit to someone who doesnt deserve it.
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As a fan of streetwear since I was in middle school, I agree on all of the brands you mentioned. However, neither of them are considered luxury. Bape created a separate lux line to try and capture that market. Supreme will always be considered a Skate brand. It’s part of Jebbia’s model. The consumer and resell market just adds to it’s value.

From a design standpoint, i’m not a big fan of Virgil’s work. But a $1400 off white varsity is of much better quality than any of the brands you mentioned. I mentioned brands look for innovation. That doesn’t mean brand new ideas, just create a better version of something. Yes, a lot of that comes with “stolen” ideas. We can argue Apple’s innovation vs Samsung, etc etc. We live in an era where people buy off influence and emotion more than ever. Virgil has shown LV he can sell basic/“stolen” designs to his market and then some. He dj’s, throws parties, does collaborations to touch diff markets (fragrance, eyewear, furniture). Now imagine with LV’s infrastructure in the palm of his hands...

Kanye could very well be in this position of Virgil but he chose not to. He’s essentially his own boss with Yeezy and has a nice partnership with Adidas. I think the space Ye’ is in works better for the persona that comes with being Kanye West. They are both pioneers wether you like their vision or not.
 
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Pharrell was 1st black model for Louis Vuitton ad campaign with Karolina Kurkova, surprised he didn't get this role at some time before Virgil
 
hennessy beach said:
As a fan of streetwear since I was in middle school, I agree on all of the brands you mentioned. However, neither of them are considered luxury. Bape created a separate lux line to try and capture that market. Supreme will always be considered a Skate brand. It’s part of Jebbia’s model. The consumer and resell market just adds to it’s value.

From a design standpoint, i’m not a big fan of Virgil’s work. But a $1400 off white varsity is of much better quality than any of the brands you mentioned. I mentioned brands look for innovation. That doesn’t mean brand new ideas, just create a better version of something. Yes, a lot of that comes with “stolen” ideas. We can argue Apple’s innovation vs Samsung, etc etc. We live in an era where people buy off influence and emotion more than ever. Virgil has shown LV he can sell basic/“stolen” designs to his market and then some. Now imagine with LV’s infrastructure in the palm of his hands...

Kanye could very well be in this position of Virgil but he chose not to. He’s essentially his own boss with Yeezy and has a nice partnership with Adidas. I think the space Ye’ is in works better for the persona that comes with being Kanye West. They are both pioneers wether you like their vision or not.
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but now you're talking about marketing... which I agree with you... Virgil (with the help of social media) knows how to market well. but to write him off as if he was/is some pioneer for streetwear is just wrong imo. his freaking hoodies are made from champion man... i saw them with my own eyes when I saw in NY. c'mon.. wtaps, undercover, and even supreme has better quality hoodies than off white. Nigo's new brand "human made" has THE BEST cut and sewn t shirts in all of streetwear imo.

Virgil obviously did something right to get to where he is so im not gonna knock that, but he will never be in the same lane with the names' above.

all in all, I respect your opinion. at the end of the day, im sure we both hope Virgil does something great with LV.
 
W)taps said:
but now you're talking about marketing... which I agree with you... Virgil (with the help of social media) knows how to market well. but to write him off as if he was/is some pioneer for streetwear is just wrong imo. his freaking hoodies are made from champion man... i saw them with my own eyes when I saw in NY. c'mon.. wtaps, undercover, and even supreme has better quality hoodies than off white. Nigo's new brand "human made" has THE BEST cut and sewn t shirts in all of streetwear imo.

Virgil obviously did something right to get to where he is so im not gonna knock that, but he will never be in the same lane with the names' above.

all in all, I respect your opinion. at the end of the day, im sure we both hope Virgil does something great with LV.
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Off-White isn’t made by champion. I think we’re confusing his collabs or previous work with Pyrex.

Off-white is owned by New Guards Group. This is the same company that distributes Marcelo Burlon, Palms Angels, etc. very different quality compared to known streetwear brands. He has done collabs with many different brands such as champion though, just like Kith.

Hunan Made feels like OG bape. I love it. However, Japanese Cut and Sew is different than European Luxury...à la Louis Vuitton.

I work in Brand Marketing so that explains my thought process lmao. Respect.
 
Is there anyone here who works at corporate LV and can provide the revenue splits for accessories/clothing? I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone wear LV clothes in real life before.
 
pirateslaw said:
This was my first introduction to him. Who would've thought that this guy would be coveted by LV? Not a fan of anything associated with him, but I wish him continued success.
Louis-Vuitton-Don-1.jpeg
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this is definitely one of the GOAT pics in NT history.

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Isnt this the dude who bought those clearance Polo Rugby shirts for $20 cut the tags and put his name on it and charged $500 a pop?
 
This makes a lot of sense -- LV did that recent collab with Supreme

Rumor was that LV was on the decline pre-Supreme collab -- they're striking while streetwear is hot
 
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