LVMH Invests in Virgil Abloh's Off-White
LVMH Buys a powerful Stake in Virgil Abloh’s Streetwear Brand Off-White given the founding license new skin in the game and a seat at the power table.
Tuesday, July 20, LVMH revealed that they bought a 60% stake in Off-White. Virgil Abloh is the founder of Off-White, as well as the artistic director for Louis Vuitton menswear. Off-White is an upscale streetwear-inspired brand that produces edgy and unique fashion. They have over 50 stores all over the world, as so many people enjoy their products. Virgil Abloh Doesn’t Own Off-White any longer, yet he maintains it’s Trademark ownership . Since the sell to the New Guards Group, the luxury fashion holding company technically controls Off-White in the fact that they rent out Off White’s license to use the Off-White trademark that Abloh owns. Now that LVMH has purchased the 60% stake in Off-White, the Off-White trademark is going to be included in LVMH Fashion and Leather Goods Group. Virgil Abloh will also be participating in other sections of LVMH, such as wine and hospitality, bringing an added diversity to the company. Abloh has expressed excitement regarding this monumental news.
Giving Abloh such prominent status in LVMH represents significant growth in the company regarding it’s diversity means. LVMH’s executive committee and board are all white, so they still have more work to do in terms of implementing real inclusion within their company executive members. However, the company is making progress by putting trust and investment in Abloh. Since LVMH believes in Abloh enough to acquire such a significant stake, this could indicate that they are ready to invest in more brands by designers of color. The article even explained that Michael Burke, the chief executive of Louis Vuitton, hopes “to make the [LVMH] founders turn over in their graves, but in the best way.”
Abloh is looking forward to opportunities for his brand to grow, as the article pointed out that he is hoping for Off-White to start producing products outside of fashion in addition to making clothing and accessories. Some items include beauty products and home-related products. This concept of a big name fashion company purchasing such a large portion of Abloh’s brand and sudden expansion plans is a bit reminiscent of the iconic Halston, who made a deal to sign away his name for more money and opportunities and ended up having to expand into more than his core style. However, Abloh still owns his name, and we are optimistic that this new role will go well for him. We are excited to see what is next for him and Off-White.