Legendary Designer, Icon, and Visionary, Virgil Abloh Has Passed Away

The iconic founder of Off-White and Men’s Artistic Director of Louis Vuitton.

According to an Instagram post on Virgill Abloh‘s personal account, the beloved designer has been battling Cardiac Angiosarcoma, a rare form of cancer. He’d opted to keep the battle private, never wavering in his creativity, work ethic, or overall demeanor.

Abloh is remembered for his work at his label Off-White™, for ushering in a new age of luxury design as Louis Vuitton‘s head of menswear, and for his numerous and iconic collaborations with brands such as Nike. It would not be an exaggeration to claim he was one of the most important fashion designers and personalities of the last 50 years. In a recent piece commemorating his birthday, we mentioned that in 2021 alone, we had posted 40 articles about the designer.

Bernard Arnault, CEO of Louis Vuitton parent company LVMH, said in a statement, “We are all shocked by this terrible news. Virgil was not only a genius designer and a visionary, he was also a man with a beautiful soul and great wisdom. The LVMH family joins me in this moment of great sorrow and we are all thinking of his loved ones on the passing of their husband, father, brother, son and friend.”