FASHION EXPERIENCE
“VIRGIL ABLOH”
THE FASHION EXPERIENCE
BY: KEVIN WONG
I found it very difficult to approach writing this story for
someone so exceedingly self-aware of his position in our
current culture that delivers eloquent lectures, holds panel
discussions that clearly outline his approach to design, and
is able to describe his work in the context of preexisting and
current culture. In plain words, Virgil is hyper-conscious of all
that he is doing and why it’s effectively met with high praise.
For weeks I hopped from cafe
to cafe, hoping the change of
scenery would inspire me,
but I was stuck. Growing up
an admitted “hypebeast,”
attempting to comment
upon Virgil’s achievements in
the past year – the countless
ways he has impacted this
culture I’ve grown up on
– seemed to be a task for
which I felt slightly un-
der-qualified. But on this
fated Sunday morning, days
before deadline, it came
rushing to me. I tumbled
out of the shower, grabbed
my iPhone off the edge of
sink, and frantically mashed
away on the Notes app –
all the while soaking wet,
6
dripping still-soapy water on
the bathroom tiles. Virgil is
not this design god that the
world thinks he is – at least, he
doesn’t think he is. He thinks
he’s just a messenger in the
grand scheme of things, an
assistant participating within
a larger movement. Maybe
it’s because of his 3% rule:
never taking a design more
than 3% from its original
form. He doesn’t have to
– he’s fine with leaving a
design the way it is and has
a healthy respect for the
beauty of something in its
pure form. Much in the same
vein, we don’t need to fit his
story into some grand-notion
journalistic endeavor – his
story tells itself, and we’re
simply taking our due turn in
being the assistant. The day I
VIRGIL HAS KICKED DOWN THIS
PROFESSIONAL OR PREVERBAL DOOR
OF NEEDING TO BE THE MODEL OF
PERFECTION OR OF WHAT’S EXPECTED
– BUT BECAUSE HE KNOWS WHAT
NEEDS TO BE DONE AND HE KNOWS
HIMSELF, ACCEPTING OF IT.
spent with him, in November,
the tail end of his absolutely
breakout 2017 year, was a
jam-packed one. It was the
only day he was going to be
in NYC, and the day consisted
of two separate location
photoshoots,
a
private
gallery visit, a bookstore
visit, and a concert, which he
DJ’ed. Virgil had just arrived
at JFK that morning and
was scheduled to leave the
following afternoon – a quick
peek at his IG stories and you
can catch that this may be
the most traveled man in
the world at the moment
– with his design studio in
Paris, his “home” in Chicago,
and his Off-White flagship
stores in Tokyo, Hong Kong,
New York and Singapore. He
travels so much, he has plans
to create an installation
that shows his flights just
in 2017, via a red string on
a map – “All you’d see is
red. It was truly amazing.