Off-White

Virgil Abloh interned with Kanye West back in 2009, and was named as creative director of Donda, West’s creative agency in 2010. By 2011, Abloh was designing Grammy-winning artwork for West and Jay-Z’s new album, Watch the Throne. First founded as "Pyrex Vision" in Italy in 2012, Abloh rebranded his company as Off-White in 2013. Abloh described the choice of brand name as "the grey area between black and white is the color off-white" to the fashion world. The first garments bought for the new company were deadstock Ralph Lauren flannel shirts. Abloh bought these for $40 each, and screen-printed the word “Pyrex” and the number 23 onto the flannels. An homage to Michael Jordan, the screen-printed flannels resold for $550 each. A menswear label by 2013, Abloh launched a womenswear label the following year. By 2016, Off-White’s first concept store was launched in Tokyo. Abloh also launched his first furniture collection, named Grey Area. 2017 was an award-winning year for Abloh, grabbing the British Fashion Award for Urban Luxe Brand. The next year sees Abloh taking on the role of artistic director for Louis Vuitton’s menswear division.