Milan-based fashion label Off-White recently debuted two separate collaborations that will be available this fall—one with Moncler and one with Levi’s. The high-profile doubleheader may seem like a lot for the three-year-old brand, but ambitious pairings are routine for founder and native Chicagoan Virgil Abloh, who has been Kanye West’s creative director since 2011. Moncler and Off-White worked together to craft Moncler O, which combines Moncler’s puffer jackets and coats with Abloh’s high-end streetwear aesthetic and details like Off-White’s visual leitmotiv of diagonal stripes. A stormy-weather color palette and rubberized exterior panels are meant to evoke fisherman’s garb. Back on solid ground for Levi’s, Abloh was commissioned to design a fall/winter 2016 collection for its higher-end Made & Crafted line. The result pays homage to Levi’s vintage ethos, while Abloh designated half of the clothes as unisex. The project is also the latest to come from the relationship, which dates back to August 2015 when Abloh “hand-picked some vintage Levi’s that he customized for his Paris show last October,” says Levi’s head of design, Jonathan Cheung, adding, “His creativity often comes seemingly out of nowhere.” Or maybe it’s that Abloh seems to be everywhere at once.
(Photos: Courtesy Levi’s)