Not What I Thought: Virgil Abloh, RIP
Virgil Aboloh passed away this past weekend, and I came across a lecture he gave at my grad school alma mater, which gave me a very different understanding of his work, his intentions, and his personality.
Harvard GSD Lecture
First, I had always assumed that Virgil was the European guy who put silly "quotes" and plastic tags on all sorts of clothing and shoes. It seemed intriguing, but also like a one liner to me, and I figured it just wasn't my demographic.
Serena Williams at the US Open, in an “Off White” outfit - link
Turns out, I was wrong about a lot of it. I still don’t understand why athletes would play their sport with plastic tags hanging off their shoes, and the extensive use of “quotation marks” still seems over-used to me, but listening to the man himself talk was a wonderfully eye-opening experience.
Brooks Koepka in “Off White” golf shoes - link
First, we actually are the same demographic, since we were born about 2 weeks from each other. He's not European; he's from Chicago, and was trained as an Architect at IIT. He talked about his work with IKEA within a much wider context of consumption, and his prototype shoes as being similar to the way we would build architecture models.
Virgil Abloh x IKEA - link
Here he is, giving a free lecture in 2017, explicitly offering advice on the shortcuts that can help students get where they want to go, and things that he wishes that he was told in school. As an aside, I don’t think I remember hearing that intent in any lectures that I’ve attended, most of the time it’s pretty pictures from far, far away.
Virgil continues by discussing many aspects of his work, from the idea that perfectionism doesn’t necessarily advance anything, can lead to bland-ness, and that cynicism is often an excuse to be lazy.
I appreciate his genuine effort to help, because it also frustrated me as a student when teachers would just stare at you with no feedback. I personally try to be explicit with my students that I’m here to help them, both in the classroom and in their careers generally, because otherwise, it feels like I’m only doing half the job.
Virgil’s message is that we are in a time where design is assumed to be part of the equation in our lives, and that the limits that we see are often self-imposed and probably don’t even really exist. He’s specifically talking about our ability to put work into the world online for feedback, and the fact that anyone can reach out and connect with anyone almost anywhere.
Nike Ten Collection - link
That’s a thought that resonates with me, and I've been testing this year, as I have been connecting with many new businesses to help with their projects. It really is true, that the limits we perceive, very often just don’t exist if we’re willing to take action.
Since we live in a world where getting access to anyone is a real possibility, all it takes is the will to take that action each day, to reach out with something worth saying, and with a willingness to expose your work without being deterred.
For a gentleman in his position, coming back to an Architecture school, to give genuinely heartfelt advice, is not only rare, but grounded, helpful, and inspiring.
I think this says a lot about Virgil, and where he was at in his career, which feels like it was just fully blooming.
Thank you Virgil, and RIP.
-Chris
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