Your history. Shannon Ablohthe widow of designer Virgil Abloh, opened up her late husband’s legacy a year after his devastating death.
In her first-ever interview since his death, Shannon, 41, got candid about the New York Times in an article published on Tuesday, November 29. The artist died on November 28, 2021 at the age of 41 after a private battle with angiosarcoma – a rare type of cancer.
“It wasn’t like we knew he was going to pass,” Shannon said, explaining that the former Louis Vuitton repairman wanted to keep his diagnosis, which he learned in 2019, a secret because “he didn’t want people they look at him and think, ‘Are you okay?’”
Shannon shared that while she and Virgil “knew the challenge he was fighting,” his condition was “changing much faster than we thought.”
The couple have been able to keep things under wraps due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “I know Covid has been an incredibly tough thing for so many people,” Shannon said. “But for us it was a great time because Virgil didn’t have to find excuses to get out of shows or DJing,” Shannon told the Times. “Nobody could go anywhere. That’s how we’ve been able to have these last two and a half years.”
After his death, Shannon made it his mission to protect Virgil’s memory.
“We never had the ‘This is the legacy you’re supposed to be working towards’ discussion,” she said. “But because I was with him for so long, I knew every inch of him. I knew every inch of his brand.”
Though approached by other designers, artists and friends, the Edgewood College graduate feels it is her job and her job alone to further Virgil’s creations.
“It’s mine, it’s his kids’,” she said. “After he died, so many people came up to me and said, ‘Virgil was my best friend.’ His best friend in fashion, his best friend in music. Many of his associates, or even people who may not have been as close to him, feel, “I can do this to help his legacy, or I can do this to help his legacy.” I have to stay on this train ‘Cause if I don’t, I don’t know where he’s going. This is my place and my position.”
Shannon and Virgil’s management consultant, Howard Fellerstated in the interview that “Off-White x Nike products have been in the pipeline for at least a year.”
“We’re on the 50-year plan,” he added.
In May, it was announced that Shannon would assume the dual roles of CEO and managing director at Virgil Abloh Securities. She accepted the Board of Trustee’s Award on behalf of her late husband at the CFDA Fashion Awards in November.
The couple share children Lowe and Grey.
Virgil was a man of many talents. He founded his label Off-White in 2012 – which took the idea of streetwear to a new level thanks to his many Paris Fashion Week runway shows, which also featured supermodels Bella Hadid and Naomi Campbell strut down the runway. In 2018 he was appointed artistic director of Louis Vuitton’s menswear collection, resulting in the creation of vibrant pieces that gave the fashion house a major upgrade.
He also designed famous Kendall Jenner‘s 2018 Met Gala jumpsuit, lots of Serena Williams‘Tennis match attire as well Hailey Bieber‘s (née Baldwin) 2019 wedding dress Justin Bieber with the inscription “till death do us part” on the veil.