How Virgil Abloh became the designer every brand wants to collab with

2017 has been a wild year to say the very fucking least.

Despite all the chaos, there was amazing music, fire memes, and a creative by the name of Virgil Abloh solidified himself as the go-to designer in the fashion industry.

The Chicago-raised Abloh has been around for a minute now but you’ve definitely been seeing his name pop up more and more with one of the sickest collabs of the year with his brand Off-White and Nike. Now even Louis Vuitton and Versace are rumored to be interested in partnering with Virgil. All because he does it for the culture.

Hell, even Ikea did a partnership with him to create trendy furniture. Anything this man does will have the hypebeasts flocking. In the world of streetwear and high fashion, prices are high and so is the demand.

But where the hell did this guy come from? How did he get here and what is motivating him to do it? In a 2015 interview with GQ he explained,

“I’m just a creative person and I’m just fortunate to be surrounded by people that are ten times more creative than me… I’m fortunate to have Kanye as a friend and a mentor.”

Kanye first met Virgil in Chicago when he was running a menswear boutique and immediately hired him for his creative agency Donda. That opened up a world of opportunities for him and he capitalized on every single one.

From being art director on Watch The Throne to helping Kanye with his “Runaway” short film, Virgil made a name for himself quickly. Putting his foot in the door, Abloh carved out his own lane and a few years later he’s at the top of the fashion world.

As one of the most important creatives in the game today, he continued to explain what motivates him in his GQ interview saying,

“I don’t revolt against anything, the only thing I work against is the fact that no one told me that I can do this as a job. So the rest of my career is like showing kids, ‘Yeah, you can do it too.’ Like there is no wall. It’s a generation of us and I think what’s bringing us together is that we just want to push the culture forward and have a say in what goes on.”

His humble approach to pushing the culture is what makes him different. With three months in 2017 left to go, expect Virgil to continue to push the boundaries and create things that will get the entire industry buzzing.