Off-White founder to get museum retrospective in Chicago

By

Emily Jensen

Published
Jun 5, 2017

The 36-year-old designer will be the subject of a retrospective at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art, slated for 2019. Virgil Abloh launched Off-White in 2013 and has already earned critical success. 

 
The Chicago native says the retrospective won’t just look at his work for Off-White, but at the projects he’s worked on throughout his career. Abloh says the exposition will offer an examination of millennial culture, and the role of social media in today’s fashion world.
 
Abloh was born in Chicago to Ghanaian immigrants and began working with Kanye West shortly after leaving school. The designer then completed an internship at Fendi in 2009, which introduced him to high-end fashion.

Before starting Off-White in 2013, Abloh launched Pyrex Vision, which screen printed old designer t-shirts and sold them for a premium. In 2015 Abloh was nominated for the LVMH Prize for young fashion designers and at the end of last year, Off-White opened its first store in Los Angeles. The brand also recently celebrated the opening of its new Hong Kong store with a capsule collection.
 
Abloh was recently invited to be a special guest at Pitti Uomo, where he will present his men’s Spring 2018 collection and a preview of his next women’s collection.