Adorning the newly opened Off-White Greenbelt 3 store are hundreds of potted sunflowers against a sign with the statement “VIRGIL FOREVER,” which pay homage to the brand’s late creative director.
With his death, he now joins the pantheon of creatives who, like a blazing comet in the night sky, are gone too soon. That Virgil Abloh had made a mark in the fashion biz in such a short period of time is beyond question. But just imagine for one second what he could have done had he lived to a ripe old age.
The UNIVERS Group, led by its president, Jappy Gonzalez, the exclusive Philippine distributor of Off-White, pays homage to Abloh who passed away last November 28 at the age of 41.
Adorning the newly opened Off-White Greenbelt 3 store with hundreds of potted sunflowers against a sign with the statement “VIRGIL FOREVER,” Jappy and his team join the world in commemorating the vast contributions of the revolutionary creative force who championed inclusion and street culture.
“Abloh was very inspiring, especially to the youth. His message, that anything was possible, was unrelenting. He was such a big force in making fashion culturally relatable,” says Jappy.
After working under influential rapper Kanye West for years, Abloh launched his first collection for Off-White in 2014. Abloh’s love of collaboration took the brand to greater heights and thus introduced a new norm in the fashion industry—one marked by collaboration and cross-cultural synthesis.
Within the last 10 years of Off-White, the designer collaborated with individuals like A$AP Rocky and Takashi Murakami, as well as companies varying from big to small, luxury to mass market, both within and outside of fashion such as Nike and Ikea.
In 2018, Abloh was appointed as Louis Vuitton’s men’s artistic director, which paved the way for one of the highest profile cross-overs between streetwear and luxury. Abloh’s new role introduced more black talents in the luxury fashion industry, which had then remained mostly white.
While he stood as one of the very few black creatives in the European luxury house, he decided to use this newfound platform to elevate other black artists like Kid Cudi, Devonte Hynes and Playboi Carti through different initiatives. Inspiring change, Abloh also designed the NikeLab Chicago Re-Creation Center to hold mentorship programs for the youth.
“He paved the way for fashion to be more inclusive and relevant. He pioneered a cultural movement that brought people together. His legacy and contributions will never be forgotten,” Jappy continues.
Off-White first became available in the Philippines in 2018 and recently opened a boutique in Greenbelt 3.
