New York museum pays to tribute to late superstar designer Abloh

This pair of sneakers with an accompanying travel case were among 200 pairs of shoes designed by the late fashion designer Virgil Abloh to have been recently auctioned in New York for a total of 25 million dollars. Sotheby’s/PA Media/dpa

The Brooklyn Museum in New York is celebrating the life and work of the US fashion designer Virgil Abloh with an exhibition dedicated to the renowned Louis Vuitton menswear artistic director who died in November.

The “Virgil Abloh: ‘Figures of Speech’” show is scheduled to open on July 1 and display sketches, sculptures, pieces of clothing and other memorabilia until January 29, 2023, the museum in the borough of Brooklyn has announced.

Abloh pieces have become prized possessions in the fashion scene, particularly after the designer’s death, and a series of Nike shoes designed by him fetched a total of 25 million dollars at auction earlier in February.

The planning for the exhibition has been going on for about three years, and Abloh himself had been working on it before his death, museum director Anne Pasternak said.

The aim is to “celebrate his explosive talent”.

The Brooklyn Museum, which opened in 1887, is the second largest exhibition space in New York and houses natural science and ethnological collections as well as design and art of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.

Abloh died of cancer in November at the age of 41. The 41-year-old American had been battling a very rare and aggressive cancer for more than two years. Abloh, who was also known as a DJ and founded his own streetwear brand, Off-White, had been creative director of the men’s line at Louis Vuitton since March 2018.