Architizer spoke with the designer to gain a better understanding of his creative approach and the underlying philosophy behind his work.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Virgil Abloh revealing prototypes from his IKEA collaboration entitled “Markerad” <\/em><\/p><\/div>\n You could say Abloh is, first and foremost, a fashion designer. He is, after all, the founder of the Milan-based label Off-White and the artistic director of Louis Vuitton\u2019s men\u2019s wear collection. However, the entrepreneur\u2019s educational history reveals other expertise: He holds degrees in civil engineering and architecture, from the University of Wisconsin\u2013Madison and the Illinois Institute of Technology respectively.<\/span><\/p>\n Since graduating in 2006, Abloh\u2019s achievements are as diverse as they are plentiful: He has stood as creative director at Kanye West\u2019s \u201cDonda\u201d creative agency, and has collaborated with the likes of IKEA, Nike, Pioneer DJ, Vitra and audio engineer, Devon Turnbull. <\/span>The list goes on: He was nominated for a Grammy for the art direction of Jay-Z and Kanye West\u2019s <\/span>Watch the Throne<\/span><\/i>\u00a0album, has had a series of exhibitions at the Gagosian galleries with artist Takashi Murakami, has lectured at Harvard and Columbia, and DJs at venues and festivals around the world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n While this seems long winded, it\u2019s hard to think of a concise way to accurately encapsulate all that Virgil Abloh truly does. Scanning his resume, one could infer that he\u2019s a jack of all trades. However, looking closer at his educational background, collaborations and aesthetic, it can be surmised that Abloh is simply a jack of a single trade, a master of <\/span>one \u2014<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span>ideation itself.<\/span><\/p>\n Virgil Abloh and architect Rem Koolhaas come together to talk; image via Piotr Niepsuj<\/a>, courtesy of BURO.<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/div>\n \u201cTo me, it\u2019s not so much about mastering a field or a form,” says Abloh. “It\u2019s more about creating something that doesn\u2019t already exist, or taking something that does and making it new. Sometimes that happens with the help of a partner. If I can bring an ounce of a new idea to something, I say that\u2019s a win.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The common denominator throughout his career, though, has been architecture. Design principles originating in the built environment have been taken by Abloh and deliberately cast across a wide range of creations. This was clearly apparent at his career-spanning retrospective exhibit, \u201cVirgil Abloh: \u2018Figures of Speech,\u2019\u201d at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago (MCA). His frequent use of transparency, patterns and graphics derived from common urban signage, and the centrality of prototyping in his creative process speaks to Abloh\u2019s training in modern architecture.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The designer reflects: \u201cA lot of what I know and the way I approach things comes from what I learned at OMA<\/a> under Rem Koolhaas. Back then, they were creating in a way that looked beyond buildings as places, but as affecting the landscape of culture through this lens of architecture.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Section of \u201cVirgil Abloh: \u2018Figures of Speech\u2019\u201d exhibit. Koolhaas\u2019 research and design studio, AMO, teamed up with the MCA to formulate the design of Abloh\u2019s exhibit.<\/span><\/i> Image via Nathan Keay<\/a>, courtesy of MCA Chicago<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/div>\n Nodding to his admiration for Modernist German architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the functionality of Abloh\u2019s work is readily apparent. For him, design is as much about the process as it is about the final product, which he achieves by deconstructing established norms, calling attention to what is there, and questioning it. At the end of this process lies something new that can be reinterpreted and ultimately inform its user.<\/span><\/p>\n For example, his work with audio company Pioneer DJ, features a transparent version of his preferred turntables that reveals the device\u2019s internal parts, now a \u201cpiece\u201d at the MCA. His collaboration with Swiss furniture company, Vitra, presents a brick or \u201cceramic block\u201d whose use has been readapted into a household accessory. For Abloh, creating something new comes down to surveying and refining, which can explain the high volume of projects he\u2019s constantly undertaking.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI work at a fiery pace. I work at a 3% approach. I\u2019m only interested in editing an idea or a concept by 3% from the initial concept,\u201d explains Abloh. \u201cA lot of the time, especially when we were working on TWENTYTHIRTYFIVE with Vitra, I would stop and say ‘do we need this?’, ‘will we use this?’ or ‘does this have a reason to exist?’ If the answer to either is no, well then, there\u2019s your answer.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Pioneer DJ c\/o Virgil Abloh turntable; image via Pioneer DJ<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/div>\n Vitra c\/o Virgil Abloh “Ceramic Block”, image via Vitra<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/div>\n Abloh\u2019s work feeds off contemporary pop culture \u2014 the stuff that circulates on Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr, produced and consumed by the kids who are dominating today\u2019s consumer base. Whether it\u2019s calculated or organic, he has tapped into a growing cultural realm, developing a strong foothold in millennial tastes \u2014 so strong to the point where a single word in quotes, written across the bottom of a shoe, can raise its value by 500%. With this power, he\u2019s been able to pump in questions and ideas that are traditionally inaccessible to young people, especially those of color. <\/span><\/p>\n Things like haute-couture, architecture and luxury furniture are conventionally exclusive worlds that a black kid from the south side of Chicago would typically be barred from, if not completely oblivious to. Standing as Louis Vuitton\u2019s first African-American artistic director, Abloh is a historically rare figure in the fashion industry. It has allowed him to bridge the gap between what he\u2019s coined as \u201ctourists\u201d and \u201cpurists\u201d: those that consume and those within the \u201cexalted\u201d realm of producing, respectively. He creates under both of these guises, allowing those interested a chance to peek in, learn and ultimately influence. Abloh\u2019s career has been unapologetic and disruptive, supplying tool kits for others to use along the way.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYour first ‘No’ will be the best thing that happens. Better ideas will come from there,\u201d says Abloh.<\/span><\/p>\n Shot from Louis Vuitton’s SS19 Men’s Show; image via Bertrand Guay courtesy of Getty Images<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n From blasting Migos<\/a> towards an audience brimming with everyone’s favorite rappers to employing primarily models of color, Virgil Abloh has deconstructed convention in order to critique the establishment. He\u2019s surveyed, refined and informed, making something new each time; a method continuously present ever since his time buried in engineering coursework and working in the architectural studio. Just like his turntables, Abloh takes a 3% approach to making the fashion world more transparent and accessible to a wider audience, giving more people a chance to spin.<\/span><\/p>\n We look forward to seeing what mountains Virgil Abloh chooses to climb next. Asked if a master planned city designed in tandem with Kanye West is within the realm of possibility, Abloh is characteristically open to ideas:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s a good question.”<\/span><\/p>\n Architects: Showcase your next project through Architizer<\/a> and sign up for our inspirational newsletter<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cYour first ‘No’ will be the best thing that happens. Better ideas will come from there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":334,"featured_media":53136,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"architizer_featured_type":"insert","architizer_featured_image":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5],"tags":[],"architizer_project":[],"architizer_brand":[],"architizer_firm":[],"architizer_product":[],"class_list":["post-52896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-inspiration","category-stories"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.architizer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Screen-Shot-2018-05-08-at-18.36.34-1024x879.png\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.architizer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/tild6139-6134-4564-b862-646232613862__off-white-x-ikea-x-s-808x1024.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.architizer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/MCA_VirgilAbloh_Installation2-1024x692.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.architizer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/WAG1MAG-VIRGIL-ABLOH-PIONEER-2-1024x464.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.architizer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/39896366-1024x576.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.architizer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/virgil-abloh-louis-vuitton-ss19-mens-guide-001-1024x683.jpg\")