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Virgil Abloh passed away on Sunday, November 28th after privately battling a rare form of cancer and the world has been honing the creative genius since. The 41 year old was the founder of Off-White and the first Black man to be an artistic director for Louis Vuitton. At the time of his death, LV had a men’s runway show planned as part of the Art Basel and they proceeded as planned per Abloh’s wishes.
They presented his Spring-Summer 2022 Collection and tiled it “Virgil Was Here” with a beautiful tribute to the visionary and disrupter, which was live-streamed on YouTube. Many attended the show to honor Abloh, including Kim Kardashian West, Kanye West, and their oldest daughter North West. Kardashian shared several photos from the event on her Instagram story.
21 Savage and Joe Jonas also posted photos and videos at the runway event. Plus, rappers Quavo, Kid Cudi, and Offset honored the visionary, and walked down the runway in his designer.
Michael Burke, chairman, and CEO of Louis Vuitton said in a statement Monday, “Virgil was not only a friend, great collaborator, creative genius, visionary, and disruptor, but also one of the best cultural communicators of our times. He paved the way for future generations. As a devoted supporter of his community through his charities and passions, he was an eternal optimist who believed anything was possible.” He continued, “In this same spirit, we at Louis Vuitton will proudly continue to celebrate his legacy with a final show in Miami, per his wishes. I am honored to have called him my friend. My deepest thoughts are with his wife, children, parents, family, and the entire community that was touched by his greatness.”
Those that had the opportunity to know Abloh have been sharing their love, grief, and respect for him on social media. On Monday Kim shared a gallery of photos and an emotional message dedicated to Abloh and his loved ones. She also sent love to his wife Shannon, “I would love to send so much love to his wife Shannon. Because you loved and supported Virgil the way that you did, he was able to give so much of himself everyone else. So thank you truly for sharing him with us the way that you did,” she wrote. Included in the 10 photos was an image of the night Kanye West proposed to her in AT&T Park in San Francisco. He projected please marry me onto the stadium screen and Abloh was the DJ.