The High Museum is about to treat fashion followers with an exhibition devoted to the work of Virgil Abloh, Louis Vuitton’s creative director of menswear. “Figures of Speech” will be on view from Nov. 12 until March 8, 2020.
Virgil Abloh’s background includes a two degrees: one in civil engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison that he completed in 2002 and a masters degree in architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology, completed four years later.
His path through the fashion industry started in 2006, when he and Kanye West were selected as interns at high fashion brand, Fendi, in Rome. Abloh and West turned heads at Paris Fashion Week, with Abloh telling W Magazine that “We were a generation that was interested in fashion and weren’t supposed to be there. We saw this as our chance to participate and make current culture. In a lot of ways, it felt like we were bringing more excitement than the industry was.” People were captivated by the aura and vibes he projected throughout the fashion scene.
Fast forward to the present and he’s making huge waves in industries beyond fashion. Abloh’s work was exhibited earlier this year at The Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and was followed by a collaboration with Swedish furniture house, Ikea, released internationally. The designers mastery, thought process, ideas and references will be showcased in Atlanta next month.
This exhibition, hosted at The High Museum of Art, will highlight Abloh’s work; visitors will be able to look back through two decades of the designer’s creations and his process. The High will display prototypes and completed pieces, fashion that shows where he gets his inspiration and product designs.
“Figures of Speech” is focused on dialogue, a reference to the way Abloh uses words or phrases inside quotation marks as a theme on his designs. This promotes a sense of connection and understanding between the people who wear his garments.
Advertising graduate student Makumbi John Muleba said, “Virgil Abloh’s work in it’s true essence represents a simplified but yet successful approach to the use of language in art and translating it to a global audience.”
The High Museum described the exhibit on their website as “[offering] an in-depth look at the defining highlights of Abloh’s career, including his recent designs for Louis Vuitton menswear collection, video documentation of his most iconic fashion shows, and his distinctive furniture and graphic design work.”
For tickets to “Figures of Speech,” visit the High Museum website.
