One of the most influential names in fashion, you don’t need to be a sneakerhead to have noticed the impact of the late great Virgil Abloh. With his iconic label, Off-White, releasing a new collab on the Replica Off-White × Air Force 1 Mid Black this week, we figured we’d take a look through Virgil’s career and impact on the sneakers and streetwear.
Virgil grew up in Illinois, born into a family of Ghanaian immigrants. Eventually, Virgil followed in his father’s footsteps in engineering and became an Architect, gaining a Master’s from the Illinois Institute of Technology. This knowledge went on to influence his utilitarian aesthetic throughout his career
Virgil always had an interest in fashion, including the streetwear culture of the 2000s. He also loved high fashion like Louis Vuitton, which led him to cross paths with another Illinois icon, Kanye West. Virgil worked as a creative director behind Kanye’s media company, Donda, and in 2012 he launched Pyrex Vision. Half fashion label, half artistic experiment, Pyrex took deadstock Ralph Lauren pieces and printed his own designs on them, selling them for hundreds of dollars. Never intended to be a lasting business venture, Virgil closed Pyrex within a year.