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Virgil Abloh, who made history as Louis Vuitton's first black artistic director, is dead at age 41 following a years-long battle with cancer.
The fashion prodigy had been privately battling cardiac angiosarcoma, which he was diagnosed with in 2019.
'We are all shocked by this terrible news, Virgil was not only a genius designer, a visionary, he was also a man with a beautiful soul and great wisdom,’ Louis Vuitton executive director Bernault Arnault said in a statement. ‘The LVMH family joins me in this moment of great sorrow and we are all thinking of his loved ones after the passing of their husband, their brother, their father or their friend.'
The founder of Off-White had taken over the role from Kim Jones, the new Christian Dior menswear designer and his first men’s collection with Louis Vuitton is expected to be presented in June during Paris Men’s Fashion Week.
He said in conversation with The New York Times that he is ‘elated’ with his new position and ‘this opportunity to think through what the next chapter of design and luxury will mean at a brand that represents the pinnacle of luxury was always a goal in my wildest dreams.
‘And to show a younger generation that there is no one way anyone in this kind of position has to look is a fantastically
