Welcome to a collection of insightful and inspiring quotes by Virgil Abloh, a visionary designer, entrepreneur, and creative icon whose influence transcends the realms of fashion, art, and culture. Renowned for his innovative approach and boundary-pushing designs, Abloh has left an indelible mark on the global creative landscape, shaping the way we perceive and interact with contemporary design.
As the founder of the luxury streetwear brand Off-White and the artistic director of Louis Vuitton’s menswear collection, Virgil Abloh challenged conventional notions of style and luxury, redefining the intersection between high fashion and street culture. His unparalleled ability to blend diverse influences and his relentless pursuit of innovation have earned him widespread acclaim and admiration, solidifying his status as one of the most influential figures in the fashion industry.
In this compilation, we present a curated selection of Virgil Abloh’s most memorable quotes, offering insights into his creative process, philosophy, and perspective on design and life. Whether you’re seeking inspiration for your own creative endeavors or simply intrigued by Abloh’s unique vision, these quotes serve as a testament to his enduring legacy and unparalleled creativity. Discover his words of wisdom below.
My motivation is, in part, a bit of angst that comes from feeling like I don’t belong, that our generation doesn’t belong. Virgil Abloh
For me, I analyze the modern girl, the girl that I’m friends with, and they’re empowered: They pay their own bills. They have their own style. They wear clothes – the clothes don’t wear them. Virgil Abloh
For me, there’s a subtlety in focusing on the right shape of T-shirt and pant. I recognise that it’s boring, but the idea is to catch people off-guard and reward them in some valuable way. Virgil Abloh
Criticism doesn’t worry me. Virgil Abloh
There’s a part of me that’s trying to represent kids that don’t necessarily have the same outlet that I have. I’m not looking towards a new demographic. I’m looking towards the demographic I came from. Virgil Abloh
All I do all day is think of ideas and implement them. That’s an industry, you know. I’m trying to make art on a commercial scale. Virgil Abloh
The concept with Off-White is that I have no ideal target. It’s more about trying to make something for everyone. And I think that’s what helps make it unique. That there isn’t a specific muse. Virgil Abloh
From a very young age, as a teenager, I was into hip-hop and skateboarding and all those things that were akin to a kid in the ’90s. All those things are what resulted in clothes. Virgil Abloh
DJing is my only peace of mind. When the phone is off, I play my favourite songs really loud for myself, and I’m not talking to anyone; I’m not managing anything. It’s just, like, a time when I can listen to music. Virgil Abloh
Big teams are absolutely vital if you want to achieve certain results when you’re working on larger scales, both in terms of physical size and productive quantities. Virgil Abloh
My graphic design skills are superior to a lot of other things I can do; I use it as a part of my tool kit. Virgil Abloh
Kanye’s the best. He really, really is. He’s cool. And why we’ve always gotten along is because we can just sit down and talk about art. Virgil Abloh
The blue-collar culture, it’s not really a buttoned-up aesthetic. It’s a heavy-labor thing because you’re, like, sweating. Virgil Abloh
Pyrex Vision’s first season was, for me, an expression of myself as an artist first, designer second. Virgil Abloh
You can look at Lil Uzi and know he has a strong opinion about his aesthetic. Virgil Abloh
My style is to never say no. Virgil Abloh
Fashion and music are two great artistic forms that can be molded by the youth culture – our taste and our passion for evolving things in our limited time on earth allows us to look at things with fresh eyes. Virgil Abloh
I want Off-White to be a graphics-based brand. Virgil Abloh
All the skateboarding brands that I was into had graphic T-shirts. In the ’90s, there were different styles that went along with the different influences in skateboarding, whether that be hip-hop or rock and roll and grunge. And that’s what I was into, so I was following all that. Virgil Abloh
Take Tom Sachs as an artist. His brain is more brilliant than anything, so of course, anything he puts out over a ten-year period is going to continue to be super relevant. But if you look at some artists, they have one good idea, but unless you know where it’s coming from, it’s not going to be lasting. Virgil Abloh
The most important message is to let me just focus on making the most beautiful normcore clothes, but as luxurious as possible. Virgil Abloh
I believe in the romantic interchange between intellectuals about fashion. Virgil Abloh
The amount of random conversations that lead to culture-shifting ideas is insane. Virgil Abloh
I don’t have to choose between high fashion or streetwear. My brand reminds me that it doesn’t have to fit in a box. It can just be in a gray area. Virgil Abloh
I’m mostly into buying art from friends. I like to keep it vague – just whatever I find intriguing. Virgil Abloh
The best New Year’s resolution I ever made was probably to, like, pursue fashion in the spirit that I have now. Virgil Abloh
Music needs a visual element to make it tangible. So, naturally, there’s gonna be a synergy between high-level art direction and high-level albums. Virgil Abloh
In my case, everything starts from Marcel Duchamp and the new expressive possibilities he gave us with his ready-mades. I transferred his artistic language into today’s world, choosing, for example, to use pedestrian-crossing stripes as a symbol. Virgil Abloh
My lifestyle doesn’t really account for movies. I can’t even remember what I last saw. Virgil Abloh
I was never meant to, like, work and then turn it off and sit on the couch. I just have a vision, and I’m inspired by it. It’s sort of what makes me tick. Virgil Abloh
People that are able to think in terms of concepts and offer us valuable forms of art are very exciting to me. Virgil Abloh
From my perspective, I’m trying to stand for a generation. You know, each generation has designers who go along with it. Virgil Abloh
Murakami’s ability to deconstruct and his aesthetic and conceptual freedom have been totally inspiring for me. Virgil Abloh
The whole point of collaboration is that you give and take from each other, and that’s how you create things that are totally new. Virgil Abloh
If you look at why people become wack as they get older, it’s because they stop doing the things they did that were formative to their work. You can’t mentally stay still. You can’t not challenge yourself. Virgil Abloh
To me, graphic T-shirts are the most important and most expressive format for a designer or a person. Your taste in graphic tees says a lot about your point of view. Virgil Abloh
For me, as I was growing up, I studied architecture, I was into music, and I always felt that there was a gap between the things that I loved and consumed and who made them and how they made them. Virgil Abloh
I always live in multiple places. I’m never in the same city for seven days. Virgil Abloh
‘Creative director’ is a catchall phrase for giving ideas. To me, it obviously means more than that. It’s like being a counselor. Virgil Abloh
Graphic tees are vibes. And I think they’re the basis of a lot of wardrobes, but that makes it challenging to distill what you’re brand means within a T-shirt. Virgil Abloh
I have this overriding principle that streetwear could end up like disco: that it will be perceived well at the time but doesn’t age well at all. Virgil Abloh
My friends and me, we’re the type that don’t care. We’re not into fashion. That’s, like, millennial spirit. Virgil Abloh
Kanye looks for the best in everything. Virgil Abloh
I want to put culture on a track so that it becomes more inclusive, more open source. Virgil Abloh
I think that, in a digital age, album covers are becoming a lost art. Virgil Abloh
I pride myself in collaborating and being a creative director, and creative direction isn’t putting my opinion first. It’s supporting an artist so they get the most out of the project. Virgil Abloh
Ironic things are interesting. Virgil Abloh
Collaboration is not a punchline… I only collaborate with the best in each category. Virgil Abloh
The most valuable thing in culture is to find something first – so everyone is always looking. Virgil Abloh
People, when they say ‘streetwear,’ they miss the central component, which is that it’s real people; it’s clothes that are worn on the street. Virgil Abloh
My first degree was in structural engineering, which is super-boring. Virgil Abloh
I started off as a kid who didn’t care what my education was. Virgil Abloh
I’d do anything at the right time, and I would also do things at the wrong time if they felt right. Virgil Abloh
I think the reason why Off-White exists is to modernize fashion. Virgil Abloh
I just wanna start a brand that inspires and is geared towards youth. Virgil Abloh
I think my original ambition was to be an artist. Virgil Abloh
I’ve been DJing since I was in high school. Virgil Abloh
My general premise is not about selling clothes. If that’s your end goal, then all of a sudden everything looks the same, you know – you start designing by numbers. Virgil Abloh
The fashion consumer likes a high-low mix – I want to be a brand that represents that. Virgil Abloh
Everything I do references something that influenced me. Virgil Abloh
I don’t come up with ideas in a test tube; I come up with ideas by breaking test tubes. That’s how I’ve always been. Virgil Abloh
I’m constantly inspired by my friends and the people I surround myself with and the cities that I’m traveling to. Virgil Abloh
Clothing interests me, but it’s not the endpoint of my interest. Virgil Abloh
Every idea that comes to mind I execute, or I look for outlets to put out ideas. Virgil Abloh
It is an honor for me to accept the position of men’s artistic director for Louis Vuitton. I find the heritage and creative integrity of the house are key inspirations and will look to reference them both while drawing parallels to modern times. Virgil Abloh
I’m fascinated by the idea that a human connection can be triggered through inanimate devices. Virgil Abloh
Whenever I’m doing a collection, I’m inspired by the world around us. Virgil Abloh
I’m a kid from Chicago. I know what it was like to see Obama become president. We felt the tectonic plates of the world shift. Virgil Abloh
Fashion is kinda a joke. I don’t get too bogged down in the clothes. For me, it’s one big art project, just a canvas to show that fashion should have a brand which has someone behind it who cares about different contexts. Social things. Virgil Abloh
I suck at sleeping. Virgil Abloh
Art is made in hindsight. Virgil Abloh
I oftentimes say that I design my collections off my phone. I’m in a group chat with my team in Milan. I copy and paste. I draw. I look at trends. I don’t really have an assistant. It’s a modern way of working. I don’t know if it’s sustainable, but it’s how I do it. Virgil Abloh
I interned at Fendi while Michael Burke was overseeing Fendi. Virgil Abloh
When creativity melds together with global issues, I believe you can bring the world together. Virgil Abloh
I don’t sleep as much as normal people do. Virgil Abloh
For me, just as a social recorder of 2016, there’s a new girl that emerged that can shop in between Zara and designer and still maintain a sense of her personality and identity. Virgil Abloh
I try to talk on the phone as little as possible. Virgil Abloh
What I love about tennis is the gracefulness. It’s an aggressive and powerful game, but it takes touch and finesse. Virgil Abloh
There’s no line between a designer and consumer. Virgil Abloh
I don’t want to be a celebrity designer. I want to keep my personal life out of it. Virgil Abloh
I hate being up onstage with a microphone. Virgil Abloh
As a young designer in tune with culture, I’m interested in the lifeline of trends. Virgil Abloh
I like the idea of a fully realized collection with artists. Virgil Abloh
I like to look at fashion and relate it to the time when it was happening. Virgil Abloh
I can come up with 30 T-shirt designs in a day, but it’s just about where to slot each of them. That’s streetwear to me. It’s about knowing where to buy things, not this mass thing you can get anywhere. Virgil Abloh
My place in design history is to sort of interpret youth culture, and I think we’ve seen that done in fashion before – it’s not a new concept – but it hasn’t been done with the same vigour in a modern context. Virgil Abloh
My goal was to tell a dialogue between high fashion and streetwear. So, the name Off-White, in my mind, is between black and white. So, that middle ground is a mixture between both genres of fashion. Virgil Abloh
I don’t know where my parents got my name. I’m sure they saw it in a movie, maybe. Virgil Abloh
I always joke that, at any given time, I’m supposed to be at two other places. Virgil Abloh
I look at culture, and I see what the kids around me are wearing, and I see a particular style. I understand the space between fashion and streetwear. Virgil Abloh
I don’t have the patience to be a non-creator. Virgil Abloh
Growing up, at high school, we all used to wear Champion garments, which, in America, are standard-issue gym uniforms. Virgil Abloh
I’ve always had this in some ways pessimistic and in some ways realistic idea that I’m the lowest rung on the ladder. Virgil Abloh
I don’t play golf. Virgil Abloh
I don’t do the vintage thing so much, just because it’s not me. There are some vintage designers I’ll buy things from, but mostly not. Virgil Abloh
I do fashion to tell a narrative. Virgil Abloh
I’m not really into style. I’m more into confidence or having something to say. Virgil Abloh
My dad is a Ghanaian immigrant, and he wanted a son who was an engineer. Virgil Abloh
DJing is like a great tasteful art form. Virgil Abloh
I’m always trying to prove to my 17-year-old self that I can do creative things I thought weren’t possible. Virgil Abloh
