While the Grammys may have missed the mark when it comes to honoring the late designer, Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Robin Givhan is determined to make sure Virgil Abloh's legacy gets its proper due.
As the senior critic-at-large for the Washington Post, Givhan is set to profile the trailblazing Off-White™ founder and Louis Vuitton men’s creative director in her new book, Make it Ours.
According to a blurb announcing the news in Publisher's Marketplace, the book will document Abloh's rise and use it as a way to examine “how Black American culture, driven by hip-hop, street style and sports, collided with the grand old bastions of high luxury to democratise fashion, create a new global vernacular for state and transform the way each of us constructs our identity through what we wear" — which feels a lot more thorough than just "hip hop fashion designer."
Described by Business of Fashion as "one of the US' leading cultural voices, and the only one to centre fashion and its role as a tool for communication," Givhan's deep dive into Abloh's impact will follow her previous book, The Battle of Versailles, which explored the fashion industry's shift away from couture towards American ready-to-wear in the '70s. If anyone's going to do Abloh's legacy justice, Givhan is a solid choice.
Abloh passed away at the age of 41 this past November after battling a rare and aggressive form of cancer for roughly two years away from the public eye. "Virgil was not only a genius designer, a visionary, he was also a man with a beautiful soul and great wisdom," LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault wrote in a statement following designer's passing. "The LVMH family joins me in this moment of great sorrow, and we are all thinking of his loved ones after the passing of their husband, their father, their brother or their friend."
Photo via Getty/Kristy Sparow