The designer who founded Off-White and served as Louis Vuitton’s artistic director of menswear was Virgil Abloh.
Abloh founded Off-White in Milan in 2013, describing the label as occupying the space between black and white. Its designs blended luxury fashion, streetwear, industrial graphics, quotation marks, and visual references drawn from architecture and contemporary culture. Before Off-White, he experimented with Pyrex Vision and worked closely with Kanye West.
In March 2018, Louis Vuitton appointed Abloh artistic director of its menswear ready-to-wear line. His first collection was shown in Paris later that year, with a diverse runway cast and a visual language that brought streetwear influences into one of France’s most established luxury houses. He was the first person of African descent to lead Louis Vuitton’s menswear line.
Kim Jones was Abloh’s predecessor at Louis Vuitton menswear, which explains a common quiz mix-up. Marc Jacobs led Louis Vuitton earlier, while Kanye West was Abloh’s collaborator and creative associate, not the founder of Off-White.