Virgil Abloh, the founding director of Off-White, a Louis Vuitton and rap artist, has died. He was 41.
His death was announced on Off-White’s Instagram page Monday night by the crew behind the influential fashion label.
“Today at 7.14pm we lost our friend and creative partner of the last 8 years, Virgil Abloh,” read a statement attributed to Abloh’s family and friends. “Thank you for coming into our lives with us each week and for your extraordinary creativity and ideas. Thanks for loving us so much.”
“We hope you’re happy and we hope you’re in peace. Rest in peace, Virgil.”
Abloh was cancer-free from 2015 to 2019 and had said he was being treated for chronic lymphocytic leukemia, according to a statement from Off-White.
Abloh worked at Louis Vuitton after he left Off-White in 2013. The brand has elevated his work to the collaboration level, with past collaborations including an emojis for women capsule with Chumby in 2015.
“Virgil Abloh was the most inspiring creative mind of our generation,” Louis Vuitton Chairman and CEO Michael Burke said in a statement released Monday night. “His artistry and charisma was impossible to ignore. His openness to new ideas was present at every step in his career, and he brought the same openness to Louis Vuitton. We mourn the loss of a great friend and colleague, and we celebrate his enormous legacy.”