Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH) is giving Virgil Abloh’s Off-White™ brand the ultimate co-sign to forge one of the most powerful partnerships in the fashion world.
According to a press release, LVMH has announced that the conglomerate has acquired a majority stake of 60 percent in Off-White™ — Abloh’s popular luxury streetwear brand he founded in 2013. Together, the two will expand new and existing brands beyond the fashion umbrella. The acquisition deal has the potential to make Abloh the most powerful Black executive at the world’s most powerful luxury goods group.
The New York Times reports that Abloh’s new leadership role will include working across various categories such as wine and spirits — Krug, Dom Pérignon and Hennessy, among 30 brands); hospitality (over 50 hotels); smashing silos and bringing in more diverse voices to a variety of brands.
“I’m getting a seat at the table,” Abloh told the outlet in a Zoom interview. “The idea is to develop a trajectory I wish I had had when I was starting out,” pointing out that his new role will also help open doors for nontraditional luxury candidates at all sectors of the industry, from entry level to the top of the chain. “I focus on relevancy. Relevancy is my metric.”
Hypebeast also reports that Abloh will retain 40 percent ownership in Off-White™ following the acquisition deal and keep his creative director role for the brand. With LVMH as a partner, Off-White™ will have access to a slew of tools to help the brand expand its own portfolio.
“We are thrilled to expand our successful partnership with Virgil. We have already had the privilege of witnessing Virgil’s exceptional creativity and vision through his work with us at Louis Vuitton,” Bernard Arnault — Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of LVMH — shared in a press statement. “We look forward to supporting Virgil and the team both in driving the growth of Off-White™️ and in working together with Virgil to bring his unique sensibility to a broader range of luxury categories.”
Off-White has been the brainchild of Abloh for nearly a decade now and the new deal with LVMH is on track to position the brand for generational growth and a host of new opportunities.
“For nearly a decade, we’ve been building Off-White™️ to be a brand designed to empower our generation and challenge the status quo,” Abloh said in a statement. “LVMH brings to the table the additional firepower and scale to accelerate our momentum and evolve Off-White into a truly multi-line luxury brand.”
“I’m incredibly excited to work together with LVMH on other possible collaborations – an evolution of the great relationship I have had with LVMH, Bernard Arnault, Michael Burke at Louis Vuitton, and others,” he adds. “I’m also honored to use this partnership to deepen my longstanding commitment to expand opportunities for diverse individuals and foster greater equity and inclusion in the industries we serve. This is an incredible new platform to take the disruption we’ve achieved together to a whole new level.”
The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to finalized over the next two months, according to a press release.
