The popular designer who shocked the fashion world with his sudden death: Who is Virgil Abloh?

Virgil Abloh was born on September 30, 1980, in Rockford, to a Ghanaian immigrant family. His mother was a tailor and his father ran a paint company. Abloh grew up in Rockford, where he attended Boylan Catholic High School and graduated in 1998. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2002 in civil engineering. He received his MA in Architecture from Illinois Institute of Technology in 2006.  

While Abloh continued his education, there was a building under construction on campus designed by architect Rem Koolhaas that helped ignite his interest in fashion. While studying architecture, he designed t-shirts and wrote on several different fashion and design for a well-known blog, The Brilliance. Abloh first met popular musician Kanye West while studying on his designs at a Chicago print shop. 

After graduating from college, Abloh interned at Fendi in 2009 in the same class as rapper Kanye West. Placed at the company's Rome, Italy office, the two began a collaborative relationship. Abloh caught the attention of Louis Vuitton CEO Michael Burke during his work with the rapper and designer. Later that year, Abloh and West's artistic partner, Don C, opened a retail store in Chicago called RSVP Gallery. The retail space they established has become known for carrying a mix of fashion apparel and for incorporating Abloh's style into store interior design. A year later, West appointed Abloh as creative director of his own creative agency, DONDA. 

In 2011, West asked him to serve as artistic director for the 2011 Jay-Z /West album Watch the Throne, which won the designer a Grammy award. Abloh founded his first company, Pyrex Vision in 2012. A year later, he closed the company because he thought it was an artistic experiment and not a commercial venture.

In 2013, Abloh launched Off-White, a brand that has designs that appeal to streetwear for both men and women, and that will re-examine the perception of classic luxury. The brand's arrows, quotation marks, capital letters, zippers, plastic labels and yellow and black safety tape soon became its signature. Launching its first women's collection in 2014, Off-White became one of the most popular luxury brands. 

In 2018, Abloh was appointed artistic director of Louis Vuitton's menswear ready-to-wear line, making him the first person of African descent to lead the brand's menswear line. He also made he one of the few black designers at the helm of a company. Abloh showcased his first collection for Louis Vuitton at Men's Fashion Week 2018 at the Palais-Royal gardens in Paris. Rihanna was the first to wear Abloh before the show. 

On June 5, 2018, Virgil Abloh released an exclusive collaboration with luggage manufacturer Rimowa, a limited edition transparent suitcase. At the end of 2018, a sales and consumer sentiment index ranked Off-White as the world's hottest label, surpassing Gucci.

In March 2019, Abloh teamed up with Swedish furniture company Ikea to start making furniture for the millennial, consisting of cabinets, rugs, coffee tables and chairs. Abloh combined different elements of style, such as quotation marks around certain words and putting it on different items of clothing, and in this case, different types of furniture. For example, Abloh created a "Door Stop Cutout" on a chair by adding a door stopper to make one of the chair legs elevated. One of Abloh's most popular pieces was the Frakta Bag. It was beige with the word "SCULPTURE" on the edge.

Abloh was appointed to the board of the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 2019. The council aimed to promote the American fashion industry. Abloh designed a special Off-White dress and veil for Hailey Bieber's wedding day. He wrote the slogan "till death do us part" with his famous nail design on the tail of the wedding dress and signed one of the most iconic wedding dresses of all time.

Virgil Abloh, who is not only a fashion designer, has also frequently revealed his artist identity. Collaborating with the famous Japanese artist Takashi Murakami many times, the name was also related to music. And he designed many iconic album covers. Most recently, he designed the cover of the rap star Pop Smoke's 'Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon' album in 2020. 

Abloh's interest in music also led him to DJ from a young age. He DJed at house parties throughout high school and college fondly. His influences included DJs A-Trak, Benji B, and Gilles Peterson. Over the years, Abloh also gained recognition as a DJ and began performing internationally. 

Abloh lived in Chicago with his wife Shannon and their two children. In 2019, Abloh was diagnosed with cardiac angiosarcoma. Abloh died in Chicago on November 28, 2021, at the age of 41. The death of the famous designer, who had a very rare cancer and had been treated for a while by hiding his illness, shook the world of celebrities. Abloh's funeral took place on December 6, 2021 in Chicago with his family and primarily Drake, Rihanna, West, Kardashian, Kid Cudi, Tyler, and other close friends.

Virgil Abloh, who packed a lot into his short life of 40 years, is among the most inspiring designers of all time.