Born to Ghanaian immigrants in the United States, 40-year-old Virgil Abloh became the artistic director of menswear at Louis Vuitton in 2018, finding roots in a White-dominated fashion world.
Trained as an architect, Virgil entered the world of international fashion with an internship at Fendi in 2009 alongside American rapper, Kanye West.
The two then began an artistic collaboration that would launch Abloh's career into founding Off-White.
The first American of African descent to be artistic director at Louis Vuitton, he was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2018.
Off-White launched in 2013 and implies as much: It’s not black or white; it’s both. It’s casual sweatshirts with a $1,000 price tag. It’s a homage to hip-hop within an institution that had long undervalued the genre’s cultural relevance.
Now that he’s sold a majority stake in his brand to Louis Vuitton’s parent company, LVMH Möet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, subsequently taking on greater responsibilities across the French conglomerate, Abloh has cemented his status as one of the most powerful people in fashion—and is well-positioned to continue reimagining luxury from the inside out.
His outfit at this year’s Met Gala on Monday, September 13, Virgil’s red carpet drew some sharp comments, even though the event’s red carpet usually features the most outlandish outfits.
However, some commentators on social media thought the young man of Ghanaian descent went too far.
On Instagram, almighty_nigerian wrote: "At this point (and some points back) can we agreeeeeeee that these people these celebs do not know anything about American independence or In America? Can we agree? Cus what is going on."
Another wrote, "These outfits and ppl are a joke ..right.!?"
 On Facebook, Pearl Asiamah wrote: "This is Vigil Abloh! Vigil is the artistic director of Louis Vuitton. Vigil is a Ghanaian born American. And here is Vigil making the Ancestors wonder what they did wrong."
Virgil Abloh was born on September 30, 1980, in Rockford, Illinois. His mother was a seamstress and his father managed a paint company.