Meet Kanye West and Virgil Abloh. These friends met in Chicago and enjoyed working together on fashion and art projects. Today, both men are very successful fashion designers and artists. If you met Virgil or Kanye when they were still in school, however, they would never have guessed they would be the masterminds behind some of the most influential global fashion brands.
This is a photo of Kanye when he was in elementary school. He loved drawing, music and writing poetry. He developed these poems into songs when he was in middle school. Kanye worked hard and got mostly A's and B's in school. He got a scholarship to college because he did so well. Unfortunately, he didn't finish college because he wanted to pursue music full time. His mom, a college professor wasn't happy with his choice. His music career took off and he became famous and continued to study art and music outside of school. When I was a student at Boston College, Kanye performed during his famous "College Dropout Tour". It was a great show that I'll never forget. It taught me about the privilege of being able to attend college and making sure I worked hard to make my family proud.
Virgil also grew up in Chicago. He didn't become friends with Kanye until after he finished college and graduate school. He studied civil engineering and then architecture. He was fascinated with the style of buildings and how they were put together. Virgil never went to fashion school but studying architecture gave him a broader perspective on design and nurtured his talents. In this photo in Paris he's paying homage to Michael Jordan. When he was 17 Virgil and his friends would mail their drawings of Nike shoe designs to the company for consideration. They wrote back to him that they didn't accept design submissions. Luckily this rejection didn't stop him from pursuing shoe design as an adult.
Can you find Virgil and Kanye in this fashionable entourage? They attended Men's Fashion Week in Paris in 2009 and wanted to stand out with bold colors and style selections. Some people made fun of them but this only inspired the friends to continue to push boundaries in the fashion industry. At the time black people didn't get front row seats to major fashion shows. Kanye and Virgil paved the way for black artists in the fashion industry. Now you can see artists like Nicki Minaj (Fendi) and Travis Scott (Saint Laurent) attending important fashion shows and also modeling in their campaigns or in editorials of Elle and Vogue Magazine.
At the end of Men's Fashion Week, Kanye and Virgil were determined to learn more about fashion design. They both got internships at Fendi in Rome. They worked very hard and did lots of small and boring errands. This time was very important, however, as they got an amazing education about the inner workings of a major fashion brand. They also became good friends and shared the incredible experience of working in a foreign country where they didn't speak the language.
Yeezy Boost 350 V2 Zebra
Kanye Wests' Yeezy shoes are well sought after and popular. They are released in limited quantities which can drive up the price. Kanye worked on a collection with Nike but didn't feel that he was being paid fairly for his designs. He reached out to Adidas which has nurtured a long running and successful partnership. Kanye introduced exciting shapes and colors while Adidas had the technical support and innovation to produce his creative choices.
These shoes were designed by Virgil Abloh in collaboration with Nike. Virgil embellishes with large tags and zip ties and bold lettering in quotation marks. Quotation marks have become one of his signature motifs on clothing and shoes. Virgil launched his brand Off-White in 2013. His label is wildly successful.
Virgil Abloh became the first African American designer at Louis Vuitton. In this emotional video, Kanye hugs Virgil at the end of the fashion show. This is a major moment in fashion history because a black fashion designer has never been the head of such a prestigious fashion house. Virgil's menswear and accessories have been hugely successful for Louis Vuitton.
Virgil also designed Hailey Bieber's wedding dress under his Off-White label. Virgil has also had art exhibits at The Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and an upcoming exhibit at the ICA in Boston.
Activites:
Draw a picture of your favorite pair of shoes.
Research Off-White, Yeezy and Air Jordans online. Draw one of your favorite designs.
How did you get your last pair of shoes? Online? In store? Was it a present?
Ask an older family member (parent, grandparent, aunt/uncle) to tell you about their favorite pair of shoes and where they bought them.
Bonus- Draw a new shoe design. It can be for a brand you know like Adidas or Nike or you can make your own label.
Research and sketch some more- some of my favorite fashion websites include:
Again I always recommend that you always visit these websites with an adult or older sibling in the event that they include language or images that aren't age appropriate. Share your drawings with me on Class Dojo! You can even send me pictures of your favorite shoes! Love Mrs. Thaden : )