Why You Should Care About Louis Vuitton’s New Menswear Designer.

VIRGIL ABLOH WAS JUST NAMED THE 

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF MENSWEAR FOR LOUIS VUITTON 

(PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES)

“The first thing I am going to do is define new codes”

If you didn’t already know the name Virgil Abloh as the founder of streetwear brand Off-White, a frequent collaborator with brands like Nike and Ikea, or as Kanye West’s former creative director, it’s time to commit it to memory. Because Abloh was just named the artistic director of menswear at Louis Vuitton, and that’s major.

The Illinois-born, first generation Ghanaian-American will be the first Black designer at the helm of an LVMH-owned brand. And in the company of Olivier Rousteing at Balmain and Carol Lim and Humberto Leon at Kenzo, Abloh will be one of the few people of colour at the top of any French fashion house.

That’s big news, of course. But it’s not a huge surprise, since Abloh’s name has been linked to LVMH a lot in the past. In 2015, he was a finalist for the LVMH Young Designers Prize, and when Ricardo Tisci left LVMH-owned Givenchy last year rumours swirled that Abloh would take on that post.

Full story at Flare.

By Tara Maclnnis.