In Hong Kong to launch second store, Virgil Abloh, Off-White founder and Kanye collaborator, opens up
Fashion designer – the ‘yin to Kanye’s yang’ – tells us about his upcoming collections, why he loves Rei Kawakubo and Raf Simons, his desire to lead a legacy brand, and where he’s taking Off-White
Virgil Abloh paces around his new store in Hong Kong’s Central business district, talking on the phone to journalists while sipping his green tea matcha latte. When he sits down for our interview 15 minutes later than scheduled, he’s still distracted.
In between texting he tells me that he arrived from Tokyo in the wee hours of the morning, and is in Hong Kong for one night to celebrate the opening of his second store in the city.
Most interviews I’ve read about Abloh attest to the fact that he is the ultimate multitasker. When not on a plane (he flies more than 350,000 miles a year), he is up at all hours conceiving and executing a multitude of creative projects, from art installations, hotels and fashion collaborations to designing furniture and DJing.
Top of this ever-growing list is the gig that placed him at the centre of pop culture in the first place – his role as Kanye West’s long-time consultant, creative director and yin to Ye’s yang (try saying that sentence a few times).
But today we are not talking about Kanye. Instead we are set to discuss Abloh’s fashion label Off-White, which he launched in 2013. Off-White isn’t his first foray into fashion. In 2012, he launched Pyrex Vision, which took discounted Ralph Lauren rugby shirts and Champion T-shirts, screen-printed them with words and logos, and then sold them at a hefty price.
