The College of Engineering’s most decorated alum…a fashion designer?
Before his passing in 2021, Virgil Abloh achieved global fame and recognition from around the world. Abloh founded the world-renowned clothing brand Off-White, which he headed as CEO. He was the first African American artist director at luxury fashion house Louis Vuitton, and he worked as creative director at Donda.
Unbeknownst to many, before Abloh was a multi-faceted superstar, he spent his time as a civil engineering student at UW-Madison. Like many of us, he walked under the Camp Randall arch on Saturday game days and sat on the Memorial Union Terrace on hot summer days. After graduating with a B.S in Civil Engineering in 2003, Abloh went on to get a master’s degree in architecture from the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago three years later.
Abloh never forgot his alma mater. A decade after achieving alumni status, he collaborated with the University to release the now highly coveted, limited edition OFFWISCONSIN Red ShirtTM in late 2015. This collaboration was both an exercise of his avant-garde, yet minimalistic, fashion style and his generosity – all proceeds went to the Great People Scholarship.
After he passed, the UW-Madison athletes sported one of his designs to celebrate his legacy as well as Black History Month.
Patrick Herb, assistant athletic director here at UW-Madison, recalls, “The basketball teams were very grateful… and excited to be associated with [the collaboration].”
Mr. Herb was also pleased to add how they were able to use this collaboration as a teaching opportunity for the student athletes.
“We were able to connect with some staff on campus who worked closely with [Abloh] to teach the teams a little bit about who he is, what his inspirations were, and his impact on modern culture,” Herb recounted.
Abloh, who spoke at length about his civil engineering background, identified as a “civil engineering creative.” He considered civil engineering to be an art form and credited his background in engineering as how he mastered being both creative and practical.
Abloh was known for his unique ability to blend different disciplines. Herb remarked, “Trying to describe him in one sentence is challenging because his skills and interests were so diverse. I think because of that, he can be an inspiration for people that might be studying one thing but have aspirations, interests, and love for art and culture.”
Abloh’s story becomes even more compelling when you delve into his upbringing. He was born to Ghanian immigrants and was a first-generation college student. Reflecting on his upbringing, Herb said, “Virgil Abloh was a visionary, and he broke down barriers of what preconceived notions are in our society of class and background.
“Abloh blazed a trail that proved artists can come from all different backgrounds.”
Patrick Herb
Abloh was a self-described eternal optimist. He is uniquely defined by his out-of-the box approach to problems. As he said in an interview with XQ America, “I fundamentally believe that the world can be better. I don’t think about boxes. I’m an optimist that believes in creativity, and, of course, when you do that, all of a sudden you start drawing all over the paper and not within the lines.”
This creativity has spanned beyond his lifetime, continuing to inspire not only the next generation of designers but interdisciplinary engineers like himself to vision a future beyond any barriers.