The founder of Off-White, a brand known to many and a longtime creative director for Kanye West, has been name the new artistic director powerful luxury fashion house, Louis Vuitton.
He is LV’s first African-American artistic director, and currently one of the few colored people at the top of a French heritage house.
Critics were astounded by the news because Virgil and LV aren’t exactly a match made in heaven. Both are of very different styles and visions. However, it is believed that Virgil is good at creating the bridge of the classic and the now – merging them together to create something stunning.
Virgil did not come from a formal fashion background but founded a luxury streetwear brand and was the finalist for the LVMH Young Designers Prize. With several cross-branded collaborations with Nike, Jimmy Choo, Moncler, Ikea and more, his unconventional and original designs took the world by storm.
This is the first time LV dabble into the streetwear scene. Their collaboration with Supreme, one of the most sought after collabs was arguably one of the most valuable in 2017. The future of this merging seems to be bright.
Virgil is very street-oriented and has a younger touch to things. The route he will be taking for LV is unclear – but everyone is keeping their eye peeled for it. Of course, it is expected that he isn’t there to drastically change a 160-year-old legacy but rather to uplift it and give it visibility.
Virgil debut collection for LV will be shown in Paris Fashion Week this June.
Header image source from here.