Figures of Speech is the 496-page compendium Virgil Abloh created himself to accompany his landmark 2019–23 touring exhibition — a user's manual to a practice that refused the boundaries between streetwear, high fashion, architecture, and contemporary art.
About This Book
More than an exhibition catalogue, Figures of Speech functions as a primary document of one of the most cross-disciplinary design careers of the early twenty-first century. The book moves between critical essays and interviews that situate Abloh's work within contemporary art history, architecture, and the politics of race and fashion, and a vast personal archive of behind-the-scenes imagery, prototypes, and sketches drawn from Abloh's own files. A full-colour plate section surveys his output across disciplines in detail. Taken together, the three sections build a portrait of a practice that connected visual artists, musicians, graphic designers, architects, and major global brands into a singular, genre-defying body of work.
Key Features
- 496 pages of critical essays, archival photography, behind-the-scenes documentation, and full-colour plates across fashion, art, and design
- Created by Virgil Abloh himself; includes essays and an interview examining his oeuvre
- Published by DelMonico Books / Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, 2018
What You'll Discover
- How Abloh positioned his practice at the intersection of streetwear and high fashion — and what that tension produced culturally and aesthetically
- Critical readings of his work through the lenses of contemporary art history, architecture, and race, drawn from original essays commissioned for the exhibition
- An intimate view of Abloh's creative process via personal archive material: prototypes, inspiration sources, and candid behind-the-scenes documentation with commentary in his own words
- The breadth of a career that encompassed Off-White, Louis Vuitton menswear, and sustained collaborations with visual artists, musicians, and architects
About the Author
Virgil Abloh (1980–2021) was a fashion designer, entrepreneur, and artistic director of Louis Vuitton's menswear collection from 2018 to 2021. He founded the Milan-based label Off-White in 2013, having entered fashion through an internship at Fendi alongside Kanye West in 2009. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2018.
Specifications
- Format: Hardcover
- Pages: 496
- Dimensions: 320 x 240 mm
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9781636810744
- Publisher: DelMonico Books / Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
- Publication Date: 2018
Perfect For: Fashion designers, architects, and cultural theorists interested in cross-disciplinary practice; students of contemporary art history and design; collectors of Abloh's work and legacy.