Virgil Abloh, and How ‘Off White’ Became ‘Off Black’ : An Op-Ed

Sarah Torkornoo

Virgil Abloh, and How ‘Off White’ Became ‘Off Black’

Last week, Virgil Abloh, Kanye West’s creative director and the head designer of the fashion label Off White took on a new role: university professor. The young black entrepreneur gave a lecture to young creatives at Columbia University in the City of New York on February 6 in the Wood Auditorium. While academia may not seem like Abloh’s comfort zone, this is not the only unconventional space where the designer has made his voice heard.

Virgil Abloh is somewhat of an outcast. The Ghanaian-American has quietly infiltrated the world of high fashion by indistinctly elevating and modernizing urban street style. In doing so, he has increased the visibility of African-American culture in the fashion industry in a major way.

However, as he ascends into the big leagues, Abloh has more or less abandoned his brand’s original vision― and the black youth along with it.

Off White began as a brand that was strictly streetwear, serving the likes of black youth in Chicago, a testament to Abloh’s upbringing. One of his first designs (and now a more archival piece among fans of the designer) is a reworked wholesale vintage Ralph Lauren shirt with the word “PYREX” printed on the back of it. Styles like this are the epitome of streetwear. Young black kids in cities like New York and Chicago (where Abloh grew up) are seen wearing these things all of the time. However, the difference between Abloh and other streetwear designers is it is much less clear who exactly it is that he is designing for.

When Abloh designed these Ralph Lauren shirts, he bought the shirts at a discount, and sold them for $500 each. He describes one of his mantras as taking ideas from the poor and selling to the rich― something that not everybody may view as ethical. But this is the same model many other players in the fashion industry have taken and ridden out to success. Demna Gvasalia, a peer of Abloh’s and head designer of fashion powerhouse Vetements, has followed a nearly identical business model. Gvasalia borrows logos from popular streetwear brands like Thrasher and applies his own interpretation of them. How much for one of these streetwear inspired hoodies? Prices run from $800 upwards of $1,200.

So, taking clothes off the streets and plopping them into the showroom is not a new concept at all. And given the current state of technology, street style is more accessible to people than ever before, and is influencing high fashion to a greater degree. Anyone from any corner of the world can log onto Tumblr, Instagram (or even go to Google) and see what people are wearing in Paris, Milan, New York― Chicago. During Fashion Week, dedicated photographers are sure to capture the “best street style” from ordinary show-goers like you and me. These photos are then published by sites like vogue.com and elle.com, where anybody has access to them.

And there is a sort of authenticity associated with street style. In the past, fashion and the way information in general was distributed was much more hierarchical. A lot of inspiration came from the same places, such as television shows and magazines. Now, fashion information is coming from every which way, and we are almost overwhelmed with pictures and examples of different styles. This has democratized fashion in a sense, and given the everyday person (maybe even a young black boy from Chicago) the opportunity to rise to fame and make a name for themselves without endorsement from previously insurmountable establishments. However, who usually gets credit for this style? We see more and more that it tends to be the Vogues and the Alexander Wangs than the actual youth inspiring this style.

It makes sense that Abloh would want to pay homage to the way he grew up: as a middle class black boy in Rockford, Illinois and the son of Ghanaian immigrants, acquiring street cred through experimentation with different styles.

However, the gap between street style and high fashion is ever decreasing, and more high fashion brands are taking an interest in streetwear…where do we draw the line? Sure, the Off White signature logo hoodie is insanely cool, but is it $600 cool? Can there really be that much of a difference between what Virgil wore growing up and what he’s selling now (in exchange for an arm and a leg, I might add)?

Virgil hasn’t completely abandoned his initial demographic. Young, black street style stars like Ian Connor and Luka Sabbat have been featured in more than a few Off White campaigns. But just as a swimwear brand may use one plus sized model for a photoshoot, or a Parisian designer may use one black model among a sea of white ones in a runway show, the problem itself is not necessarily solved. The problem in this case, I suppose, being the fact that the very demographic Virgil is gaining inspiration (and coolness points) from is being excluded. There is nothing inherently wrong with an exchange of culture, and it is in fact inevitable, and oftentimes beautiful. But when there is nothing offered in return, or no credit given where credit is due, the exchange seems more one sided and appropriative.

One of Abloh’s Columbia lecture points referenced Anna Wintour (editor-in-chief of American Vogue) and her love of his use of rap music during his fashion shows. I wonder, then, if we’ll be seeing MIGOS on Vogue’s September issue.  

Works Cited

Baron, Zach. “The Life of (Virgil) Abloh.” GQ. Conde Nast, 1 Aug. 2016. Web. 20 Feb. 2017.

Macedo, Miguel Lobo de. The evolution of Streetwear: the newfound reality of Streetwear and its luxury-like management. Diss. 2015.

Woodward, Sophie. “The myth of street style.” Fashion Theory 13.1 (2009): 83-101.

 

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