Virgil Abloh, the Late "King Of Luxury Streetwear", Honoured In London
The "King Of Luxury Streetwear", Virgil Abloh, artistic director of Louis Vuitton's menswear collection, was honored postmortem by the British Fashion Council.
The annual British Fashion Council (BFC) awards ceremony, which took place on Monday, honored several big names in the fashion industry. Among them was American designer Virgil Abloh, according to AFP.
At the 2021 edition, held at the Royal Albert Hall in London, Kim Jones won the "Designer of the Year" award for Dior Men and Fendi, while Tommy Hilfiger won the "Outstanding Achievement" award.
British designer Stella McCartney and Vogue UK editor-in-chief Edward Enninful were among the 15 people recognized as "leaders of change" in the industry.
Virgil Abloh - The Star Of The Event
The BFC event was overshadowed by the passing of famous designer Virgil Abloh, who died on Sunday at the age of 41. He died of cancer, a disease he has been battling for two years, as revealed by his family.
The Louis Vuitton visionary designer was also called a "leader of change" and was the subject of eulogies throughout the evening.
At the start of the ceremony, a minute's silence was held in memory of the late "King Of Luxury Streetwear".
"Virgil Abloh was the true embodiment of creativity. With Off-White, Abloh reinvented the meaning of creativity in fashion, and at Louis Vuitton Men, he not only made luxury identifiable with culture but transformed it into a culture," the BFC said in a statement issued on the occasion of the awards.
Virgil Abloh was the first black artistic director of a major French luxury brand and he was recognized on the international fashion scene. He was committed to affirming African-American culture.
Who Was Virgil Abloh?
Born on September 30, 1980, in Rockford, Illinois, Virgil Abloh was the son of Ghanaian immigrants. He was married and the father of two children, Lowe and Gray.
A hip-hop fan, he started DJing in high school before graduating with a degree in civil engineering from the University of Wisconsin and architecture from the Illinois Institute of Technology. In the early 2000s, he became an art consultant for Kanye West, advising him on album covers and concert set designs in particular.
He created Pyrex Vision in 2012, and a year later Off-White was born, a luxury streetwear brand that established itself through the strength of its graphics and later evolved into creations in the "couture" area.
Virgil Abloh has established himself in a few years as one of the coolest designers of his generation. Rewarded several times for his work, he received the prestigious "Urban Luxe" award at the 2017 and 2018 British Fashion Awards.
His arrival at LVMH - the world's number one luxury brand - marked the combination of streetwear and high-end fashion, bringing together sneakers and camouflage pants and tailored suits and evening dresses. His influences included graffiti, hip-hop culture, and skateboarding.
Virgil Abloh's fashion shows included poetry shows and art installations.
About The British Fashion Council Awards
The nominees and winners were chosen by an international jury of more than 1,000 industry experts.
Two general awards and four "special recognition awards" were presented alongside the 15 "leaders of change" awards.
For the first time at this year's edition, the British Fashion Council awarded a prize for "design in the metaverse", which "rewards a digital designer who crosses boundaries and highlights the excellence (...) of digital fashion in the metaverse".
