Virgil Abloh’s figure is unshakeable and continues to be present in every fashion environment worth it’s salt. Ibrahim Kamara, the current art and image director of the brand his friend founded, Off-White, is one of the many who remembers him every day: “There could only ever be one Virgil. He was constantly innovating and thinking ahead and he left us a brand that can reinvent itself, grow, and stand the test of time. I feel the responsibility for him and for everyone who has worked, loved, worn, and believed in Off-White.”
“Lunar delivery” the name given to the collection recently shown at Paris Fashion Week, marks the beginning of a new path, inspired by world-building, with which imagination has a lot to do with. Dreaming is not for beginners but for ambitious people who strive to achieve their goals. Look up to the moon and the stars and think hard about what you want, you will achieve it and evolve to a new level.
Kamara’s vision of the universe we live in is punk, sexy, romantic, and with a modern twist. These adjectives have been represented in the Fall/Winter 23 proposal in an exemplary way, as Ibrahim is accustomed to.
Last season was a reflection on achievements and a celebration of all that was. There was a fixation on living in the moment, but the way forward had not yet been defined. The premise of change suggests an upheaval, but there is a grounding in the roots of Off-WhiteTM. Optimism fosters clarity of thought and direction and has fostered a space in which we have rediscovered the foundations and built on the traditional codes and house ethic that Virgil built.
Contemporary culture is the first point of reference, analyzed with an active curiosity. The obsession with delivery developed as it became a vital positioning in the metropolitan environment, and its function became increasingly evident. At first, drawing inspiration from these elements was disparate from traditional Off-WhiteTM reference points, but now there is a sense of familiarity. Off-WhiteTM’s curiosity has long been piqued by industrialization, a constant theme that is now seen in a new light. Just as the iconic Arrow, which in the last decade has become the symbol of a generational shift, finds new life in a softer form.
Back to where dreams come true, the moon, the designer’s inspiration comes from places closer to home – the place where he grew up. On a trip to Big Wharf, Ibrahim Kamara took note of its humble origins, where there were almost always corrugated, rain-rusted roofs (which influenced the African color palette and reinterpreted to evoke a new vision of indigenous civilizations). O.W. blue, already an indispensable color in the brand, whose meaning is related to humanity and vulnerability, and world-building is an integral part of the process that engages with an unwavering childlike whimsy. This season, logic is evaded in favor of imagination with almost no limits and imagines the future.
To be honest, the future we see for the new Off-White is very, very promising, and if not, like everything else, time will tell. The times to come are humble and serious, neither elitist nor pessimistic, and although it sounds hard to believe and this adjective does not agree with the previous ones mentioned, they will be elegant. Because yes, ladies and gentlemen, the idea that elegant people were elitist belongs to another era, and fortunately that is no longer the case (in most cases).
