Virgil Abloh was the creative director for Louis Vuitton and Off-White but redefined the idea of the modern fashion designer – adding DJ, artist and furniture designer to his creative arsenal. An avid collaborator, he worked with everyone from Nike to Evian and took fashion into fields not breached before. Rilling purists along the way, he was the first Black designer at Vuitton and the most visible Black designer in fashion before he died. At his heart, a passionate and knowledgeable music nut, Abloh was a hugely visible figure in rap, designing the album covers for Kanye West and Jay-Z’s joint album “Watch the Throne,” as well as West’s “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,” among others, and covers for Pop Smoke, Westside Gunn, Octavian and Lil Uzi Vert. In a freewheeling conversation with Gilles Peterson for Worldwide FM, Virgil spoke about an incredible range of artists that influenced and inspired him.
