NEW YORK — After nearly three years of planning, Off-White designer Virgil Abloh finally got the opportunity give a lecture at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. Abloh has undergraduate and graduate degrees in architecture from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Illinois Institute of Technology, respectively.
During the talk titled “Young Architects Can Change the World Without Building Buildings,” Abloh revealed two new collaborations — one with Nike and another with a furniture company, which he did not name. Other topics included a book of fashion editorials he’s working on and the rise and fall of Pyrex — and how it directly inspired Off-White. He also played Migos’ song “T-shirt,” which was a “life goal, because the stuff that interests youth culture is important, the stuff that we make is important,” he said. “Who is to say that we can’t start cross referencing these things to have a larger feeling? That’s sort of the freedom I create.” What was not up for discussion were the reports that Abloh is in talks with LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton to succeed Riccardo Tisci at Givenchy.
Here, a recap of Abloh’s remarks.
ON COLLABORATIONS, PRESENT AND FUTURE: Toward the end of the two-hour lecture, Abloh,
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