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Louis Vuitton unveils giant statue of designer Virgil Abloh in Miami

The late Virgil Abloh was the founder of his own Milan-based fashion house Off-White and he was Louis Vuitton Men's artistic director.

Courtesy Myles Kalus Anak Jihem/Wikimedia Commons

Following the untimely death of Louis Vuitton designer Virgil Abloh last weekend, the fashion house has erected a statue in his honor in Miami as part of his final show.

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The showcase occurred Tuesday night and featured a runway full of Abloh’s innovative menswear ranging from a variety of outerwear to a tulle skirt. Louis Vuitton installed the statue prior to the show, Hypebae reports.

Abloh was the founder of his own Milan-based fashion house Off-White as well as Louis Vuitton Men’s artistic director. His final Spring/Summer 2022 collection was announced by the fashion house shortly after his death.

In the statue, Abloh is donning his signature oversized sunglasses, an LV sweater, an LV belt and sneakers, and loose-fitted pants. The sculpture also featured Abloh carrying what looked to be a massive sketchbook with the iconic fashion house label printed on it.

You can view the entire “Virgil Was Here” collection via a video Louis Vuitton posted to Twitter.

Abloh was a trained architect from Illinois and was part of the Chicago street fashion scene before entering the world of international fashion thanks to an internship with Italian luxury brand Fendi in 2009 alongside rapper Kanye West. Abloh is responsible for some of the most iconic album covers of recent years including West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, A$AP Rocky’s Long. Live. ASAP, and West and Jay-Z’s Watch the Throne.

Since then, he rose to prominence in the fashion world, becoming the first African-American to be artistic director at a French luxury fashion house and named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2018.