Virgil Abloh passed away on Sunday at the age of 41 after privately battling cancer for years.

Abloh had become the biggest global celebrity from Rockford over the last decade plus. Bigger than Fred VanVleet. Bigger than Michelle Williams. Basically bigger than anyone not affiliated with Cheap Trick.

Born in Chicago, and grew up in Rockford, Abloh attended Boylan Catholic where he graduated in 1998. After high school the future fashion icon enrolled at the University of Wisconsin in Madison to study civil engineering. Abloh then received his Masters Degree in Architecture from the Illinois Institute of Technology. It's been reported that this is where he started to become interested in fashion and also where he met Kanye West who would be instrumental in making Abloh a household name.

In 2013 Abloh started his own clothing company Off-White and that is when his brand and success really took off. His company was based in the fashion capital of Milan, Italy and his creations were never far from the hottest runways. By 2017, Abloh's Off-White line was out selling high-end fashion brands like Gucci.

Abloh was the hottest name in fashion.

Nike hired him in 2018 he was named the artistic director for Louis Vuitton's (maybe you've heard of them)  men's ready wear line, making him the first black artistic director in the history of Louis Vuitton.

He had recently been hired to redesign a line of shoes by Nike and was seeing his name pop up next to the largest in the world. The outpouring of support after the news of Abloh's death has come from all corners of the world.

This video was made before he passed, but you can see how talented he was and what he meant to people.

Another reminder that we don't know how long we have around here, treat each day with the respect it deserves.

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