Inside Kanye West's Emotional Tribute To Virgil Abloh
On November 28, Virgil Abloh's family confirmed his death. The men's artistic director of Louis Vuitton and Off-White founder died at the age of 41 after facing a "rare, aggressive form of cancer, cardiac angiosarcoma," via the Instagram announcement, privately for two years. He is survived by his wife, Shannon, and two children, Lowe and Grey, as well as tons of other friends and clients, many of whom have paid tribute to the designer.
There was an outpour of reactions and sentiments shared by celebrities and people from the fashion industry to express their grief about Abloh's passing. "There will never be another Virgil Abloh," penned Sussanne Khan, referring to the designer's legacy in fashion. Hailey Bieber, who donned a wedding dress designed by Abloh for her wedding to Justin Bieber, shared a heartfelt message on her Instagram page: "Virgil completely changed the way I looked at street style and fashion," she wrote. "A once in a generation creative mind that is so rare and I'll never forget his impact." Drake also paid tribute. "My plan is to touch the sky 1000 more times for you...love you eternally brother," he wrote.
While there are numerous figures who made an effort to celebrate Abloh, Kanye West, who also happened to be a close personal friend of the designer, went out of his way to dedicate a Sunday Service series to him.
Kanye West paid tribute to Virgil Abloh with a Sunday Service installment
Hours following the announcement that Virgil Abloh had passed, Kanye West did a live broadcast of "Sunday Service" on his website DondaLive.com. Via People, West performed a touching rendition of Adele's "Easy On Me" along with his choir and changed some of the lyrics. The choir sang, "Go easy on me, father, I am still your child, and I need the chance to feel your love around." The message "IN LOVING MEMORY OF VIRGIL ABLOH, THE CREATIVE DIRECTOR OF DONDA," was sprawled on the screen.
West and Abloh have been friends since the early 2000s. According to The New York Times, the two embarked on a six-month internship at Fendi to gain a deeper understanding of the fashion business. Shortly after, West appointed Abloh to be the creative director of his creative incubator Donda. Abloh also nabbed a Grammy nomination for his art direction on West and Jay-Z's album, "Watch the Throne." And in 2018, West teared up when Abloh showcased his first menswear collection for Louis Vuitton (via ET Online).
Kanye West and Virgil Abloh's creative partnership was a force to be reckoned with. Louis Vuitton CEO Michael Burke perhaps said it best to Vogue: "I was really impressed with how [Abloh and West] brought a whole new vibe to the studio and were disruptive in the best way. Virgil could create a metaphor and a new vocabulary to describe something as old-school as Fendi."