The funeral for the pioneering fashion icon and DJ, Virgil Abloh, was held on Monday. Drake, Kayne West, Tyler, the Creator and many more big names from the creative world were in attendance. The service was delivered at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art, with pictures showing that other icons such as Rihanna, Kid Cudi and Frank Ocean were all in attendance.
Famously, Abloh was the first African-American artistic director of a major fashion label at Louis Vuitton, and also created the brand Off-White in Milan in 2012. He was only 41 at the time of his passing, and it was confirmed after his death that he’d been privately battling cancer for years.
Given Abloh had such an impact on informing and influencing popular culture, when the news of his passing broke, tributes from across the globe filled social media, and his friends and collaborators took to their accounts to honour the late legend. Frank Ocean labelled Abloh his “hero” on Instagram.
“My fam was proud of you like you were our family,” Ocean said. “I know grief is love that you don’t get to express so is an attempt at expressing it. Love you V. You’re a hero.”
Rap master Tyler, the Creator also shared a heartfelt tribute on his Instagram. He said that Abloh was consistently “a cheerleader”. He explained: “That hand of his opened doors, lead people in and tossed the keys outside for the next person to have”.
Typically surreal, Tyler concluded by saying: “I wish I was able to see him see what his helping hand did for me. His spirit is around tho. I feel it. He’ll see it. I’ll keep pushing and trying things while leaving the door open. He’ll shake those pom-poms. We’ll keep that on loop. Safe travels.”
Last week, Abloh’s last ever Louis Vuitton show was delivered in Miami, complete with a 30-foot statue of the late cultural hero.
Watch footage of Abloh’s last Louis Vuitton show below.
