'My Design Team Is Diverse!' Virgil Abloh Responds To Backlash Over Off-White's All-White Staff

Fashion designer Virgil Abloh is responding to criticism regarding his all-white Off-White staff. Find out what he has to say about it inside...

Fashion designer Virgil Abloh's glow up has been major. He went from collaborating with Kanye West during an internship at Fendi, launching his own Off-White brand, to becoming the artistic director of Louis Vuitton's men's wear collection. The black delegation was riding hard for Virgil. Now, folks have questions.

The fashion designer shared a video from his Off-White "Christmas" staff party in Milan and people quickly noticed there weren't any people of color on his team.

 

You really can’t make this up. pic.twitter.com/FbM8EMdRdJ

— OUT.OF.OFFICE (@IAMOUTOFOFFICE) May 1, 2019

Here's some of what people tweeted out about the Off-White all-white bash:

 

Virgil Abloh = scam likely.

He legit couldn’t find one black male/female with technical fashion design exp/knowledge...surely someone from FAMU, Howard, Grambling could’ve been a creative asset to the team. Black ppl were so proud and supportive during your launch Bro Smh!

— Faye (@JessSports) May 2, 2019

 

 

Virgil Abloh’s team mainly being compromised of white creatives makes me think about all the majority white filled offices I’ve ever interviewed in for a technical design job and feeling superbly intimidated from jump.

— TM. (@Bahz1r) May 1, 2019

 

 

Not gonna lie I thought @virgilabloh would have some black people working with him but I’m not surprised pic.twitter.com/TLqb0CEbLb

— lil shorty bulgogi (@wsupden) April 30, 2019

 

 

Virgil Abloh has 136 members of staff and not one of them are black . That’s abit odd to me.

— Glo (@gloryaxo) May 1, 2019

 

 

People thought Virgil Abloh Was for black people?!?!?! Lmaoooooooo Are y’all stupid or dumb?

— GG (@PrinceDanielv1) May 1, 2019

 

 

Virgil Abloh doesn’t even date black women of course theirs no diversity at off white

— rap culture (@NoGhostWriter) May 3, 2019

 

 

After the criticism started rolling in, Virgil seemingly responded via his IG Stories, posting pictures of black designers he has helped (still not any that he employs) throughout his career:

 

 

thank u @virgilabloh pic.twitter.com/3MNdhXurC0

— ! kade (@oceancamo) May 3, 2019

 

Over the years, people have also accused Virgil of stealing smaller black and/or streetwear designers' creations with zero credit.  The rumors spurn several articles questioning if he's copying, or if he's simply "sampling" and being "inspired."  In a cover story for another mainstream publication, The New Yorker, Virgil addressed these claims saying since he started out as a DJ, he has always incorporated "sampling" into his art.

Oh.

He recently issued an official statement to Hypebeast - a mainstream publication - regarding his "diverse" team of art directors:

"My design team is diverse as the world is big. The video shown was an Off-White™ dinner at the headquarters in the city of Milan, Italy. This party was to celebrate the hard work of the local Italian team."

A representative for Off-White also provided a statement:

"When questioned about diversity, Virgil Abloh takes pride in being African and American. His design team is diverse, and his practice has been built on making the art and design industry an inclusive community. Fellow designers like Samuel Ross, Heron Preston, No Vacancy Inn — by Tremaine Emory and Acyde Odunlami, Everard Best, Photographer Fabien Montique, amongst many others have been given a platform via Off-White™. These are just a few of the many global voices and people sitting at the table and helping evolve the brand. Off-White™ is a black founded and owned business. He wishes to use this moment of being questioned to be a moment of reflection within the industry to showcase the talents behind their design entities and push to have a design community that represents the outside world."

Hmm...thoughts?

This drama also comes on the heels of the designer getting dragged for statements he made in The New Yorker about his Michael Jackson-inspired Fall 2019 menswear collection for Louis Vuitton. The runway show coincided with the wide release of "Leaving Neverland."

Photo: FashionStock.com / Shutterstock.com

source: theybf