Celebs Mourn The Death Of Designer Virgil Abloh
Fashion designer Virgil Abloh’s shocking death at age 41 on Sunday has left celebrity friends and fans reeling.
Louis Vuitton’s creative director of menswear privately battled cardiac angiosarcoma, a rare and aggressive cancer, for two years before his untimely death, said parent company LVMH.
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Tons of fashion insiders and celebrities reacted to the heartbreaking news with memories of Abloh, including his close friend and collaborator Kanye West.
West paid tribute to him with a message on the website of his creative agency Donda, which showed a grey background with the words: “IN LOVING MEMORY OF VIRGIL ABLOH THE CREATIVE DIRECTOR OF DONDA.”
Kanye West dedicates his latest Sunday Service to the memory of Virgil Abloh
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— digitalfeedmedia (@digitalfeedtv) November 29, 2021
West’s Sunday Service choir performed a cover of Adele’s “Easy On Me” which was livestreamed in his honour on Sunday, according to NME.
Others like Drake, Pharrell and Rihanna, Idris Elba, Kendall Jenner, Hailey Beiber, Frank Ocean, QuestLove and more paid tribute to Abloh on social media.
Drake shared a series of photos of himself with Abloh and said: “My plan is to touch the sky 1000 more times for you… love you eternally brother. Thank you for everything.”
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“My heart is broken,” musician and producer Pharrell said.
“Virgil you were a kind, generous, thoughtful creative genius. Your work as a human and your work as a spiritual being will live forever. Sending love and light to your wife, children, family and day ones. You’re with the Master now, shine.”
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Justin Timberlake called him a “force” that was “taken too soon”, adding: “You gave the world so much, in so little time. And created with intensity… knowing better than the rest of us that life is short, but anything is possible.
“I’m honored to have known you. Thank you for sharing your gift with us.”
Questlove wrote on Instagram: “The teachable lesson here is disrupt. Provoke. Be controversial. Push buttons. Be a conversation piece…. live as a true artist.”
Abloh was often hailed as one of the most influential designers in the fashion industry but was also a DJ, artist and had degrees in civil engineering and architecture.
A first-generation Ghanaian American whose seamstress mother taught him to sew, Abloh had no formal fashion training but gained success with groundbreaking fusions of streetwear and haute couture. In 2013 he debuted his luxury fashion line Off-White after serving as creative director for Kanye’s design agency Donda.
He made history in 2018 when he was appointed as the first Black artistic director to helm French luxury brand Louis Vuitton. That same year he was named among Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago presented an exhibition of the work of “genre-bending artist and designer” in 2019.
His final Louis Vuitton collection, titled Virgil Was Here, will be presented in Miami on Tuesday.
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