Virgil Abloh, founder of Milan-based fashion label Off-White, has opened a new store on 83 Yorkville Avenue, Toronto. This store is an addition to it’s other locations in Tokyo, Seoul, Singapore, Hong Kong and New York.
Virgil is well known for being Kanye West’s Creative Director since 2003, receiving a grammy nomination for the packaging of the Watch the Throne album in 2012.
His first label, Pyrex Vision, an Urban Sweatshirt label, was short lived. The designer then launched Off_White in 2014 which took off almost immediately, recently receiving a CFDA 2017 nomination for Emerging Talent.
You can easily walk past the store in Yorkville without noticing it. An all glass frontage with the store name “Land”, and Off_White- written below in small letters; like a private club only members know about. As you walk in, you are greeted with a long entrance way with tall ferns planted along either side of the stairs leading into the main part of the store.
His designs are inspired by urban street culture; hip hop music, skate boarders, and graffiti. Jackets and hoodies are made with graphic black and white diagonal stripes that have made his label instantly recognizable. Ripped jeans, sweatpants, bomber jackets, sneakers, and binder clip bags are all designed to combine streetwear with high end fashion. Prices start from $1000.00 and up. In a GQ magazine interview, he describes his target customer as the girl who wears Celine and the guy who wears Supreme.
Virgil has also been busy working on collaborations with Dr. Martens and Nike and now there are rumours that the House of Givenchy is considering him for Head Designer, successor to Riccardo Tisci.
The Off_White collection is available in store now.
