Virgil Abloh's Innovative Works Remembered at the Brooklyn Museum

At the age of 41, Virgil Abloh was pronounced dead on November 28, 2021, after struggling for two years with his illness, cardiac angiosarcoma. Virgil Abloh, born on September 30, 1980, is an American fashion designer, artist, and DJ. But who would have thought that he had an educational background as an architect trained in civil engineering at the University of Wisconsin and earned a Master of Architecture degree at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT). Here, Virgil Abloh designed structures, constructions, spaces, and architectural symbols that he applied almost in every one of his works.

("Figures of Speech" exhibition dedicated to the work of Virgil Abloh)

Her interest in fashion and design arose while earning her architecture degree. From here, Virgil Abloh started his career by designing t-shirts and writing about fashion and design for a well-known blog called The Brilliance. Her struggle in streetwear fashion began with her internship at Fendi, then she launched her first company, Pyrex Vision, as an artistic experiment. In 2013, Virgil founded Off-White, a high-end streetwear brand. His name has skyrocketed, in 2018 Virgil Abloh was appointed director of Louis Vuitton menswear, his name has always been associated with the most prominent brand in the world. Her works in the world of worldwide fashion have become traces of relics that will continue to be remembered in all corners of the world.

(IIT Abloh thesis project—a tower that rises over the Chicago River to give its inhabitants views of Lake Michigan)

(Louis Vuitton Ideation Studio with Creative Direction by Virgil Abloh. Mannequins for Men’s Spring–Summer 2019 Collection)

The importance of the world of architecture and design for Virgil Abloh could be seen in "Virgil Abloh: Figures of Speech," a large cast dedicated to his career. The exhibition took place at the Brooklyn Museum from July 1, 2022, to January 29, 2023.

"Figures of Speech" was presented in the Great Hall of the Brooklyn Museum, the exhibition was organized by Michael Darling in collaboration with several famous writers and designers. Featuring over 100 items, the show was hosted and presented by writer and curator Antwaun Sargent. In addition, the cast was designed by Mahfiz Sultan, Tawanda Chiweshe, Francisco Gaspar, and Lance Singletary. Samir Pillows an AMO Director designed the exhibition for the previous iteration of "Figures of Speech."

(Virgil Abloh's Louis Vuitton bag is made of natural cowhide upholstered canvas)

(Louis Vuitton Men's clothing collection by Virgil Abloh)

The show highlights Abloh's long journey through Abloh's creative process. The show includes videos from runway shows, unreleased prototype shelves and archival pieces from the Pyrex Vision and Off-White fashion lines. In addition, the designs Abloh made for Louis Vuitton and collaborative projects such as screenings of recordings he made with the Brain company were titled "Functional Art."

(Installation "Social Sculpture")

(Interior of the Installation "Social Sculpture" )

Inside the event, there is an additional installation called "Social Sculpture," a mansion made of wooden structures intended to represent the idea of holding space for artists and designers. "He wanted to make sure that people understood that his journey as an artist started with architecture and engineering," Sargent said.

(Entrance of the Installation "Social Sculpture" )

Virgil Abloh with his works in the fashion world not only collaborated with clothing fashion, but he also had time to work with shoe fashion from the United States, Nike. For sneakerheads, the most interesting part of this exhibition event is the Nike shoe lineup designed by Abloh – some of its designs have been sold in the market and some are custom-made or unreleased.

(Virgil Abloh's line of Nike shoes)

This "Figures of Speech" exhibition event has shown how "Virgil Abloh is constantly working his ideas into the world in a way that does not mean it should be sold or displayed in museums." Sargent said.

(Virgil Abloh works closely with Pioneer DJ and OJAS)

(Virgil Abloh teamed up with Sus Boy under the title "IN OTHER WORDS," 2017. This cooperation produces a video (color, silent) with a duration of 2 minutes, 5 seconds)