Off-White c/o Virgil Abloh: Hip-hop convention in Aspen

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Jan 16, 2019

Down into the depths of the Carrousel du Louvre we descended to witness the latest collection of Off-White c/o Virgil Abloh late Wednesday morning.

Currently the uncontested hottest designer in the world, Abloh’s signature shows attract an enormous following. Pre-show hundreds of ticketless fans milled about attempting to slip into the Louvre. Backstage, post-show the dressing room was as packed as Grand Central Station at rush hour.
 
Abloh entitled his show this season Public Television; while his green invitation was an image of an angry man, courtesy of Italian graphic artist Domenico Romeo, gesticulating as if annoyed by an item on the news.

The soundtrack alternated between nursery rhymes, dark rap and Building Steam with a Grain of Salt by DJ Shadow. The set was an enormous green carpet interspersed with concrete blocks and plants like in a New Brutalist airport.
 
The actual clothes ranged from large volume tailoring – oversized but otherwise classic blazers and casual coats - paired with ginormous faded blue jeans; waxy leather blousons with huge jigsaw-piece images; bold fireman’s coats; and massive, almost floating, down great coats. Plus, Virgil mixed in plenty of faux boarder wear – like matelassé down pants and jackets. Abloh certainly has plenty of range; also sending out a pair of fabulous catsuits in hyper-sized flower prints, on two lithe ladies who also wore crash helmets. Matter of fact, even the damsel-in-distress bride wore a helmet too.
 
Too much is never enough in an Off-White show, where most every look has to have some handwritten lettering; even the black and white cowboy boots had For Walking written on them in three-inch wide letters.
 
The space was crammed to the rafters; a veritable winter-time hip-hop convention with a sweet, pungent smell in the air that reminded one of Trench Town. Doubtless this was caused by electronic cigarettes.
 
“Why Public Television? Because I wanted to express how we all get influenced greatly, without even realizing it. Alright?” said Abloh, before being engulfed by models desperate for a selfie.