Virgil Abloh, the founder of Off-White once said that, to him, Off-White is his playground, where he feels free to express his ideas for the world to understand. That’s exactly what he has been doing since 2012 the brand made into the fashion world.
The brand has since moved from the bottom of the “food chain” to being dubbed the hottest fashion in the world ahead of known brands like Prada, Balenciaga, Fendi, etc.
If you have ever wondered why Off-White is so popular, let’s take a quick peek into the world of one of the most popular fashion houses in the world, and perhaps see if we can know how Off-White gained so much popularity in such a short time.
Youth Appeal
The fact is, fashion consumers are becoming younger. That doesn’t mean it’s only the young generation that are fashion crazy. The middle-aged demographic are also jumping on a more youthful outlook. The market is huge and Off-White isn’t failing at cashing in on it.
Streetwear fashion is one of the ways Off-White is appealing to the younger generation. You don’t need me to tell you how popular a product can become once Generation Z and Millennials jump on it. You bet Off-White didn’t come to play in this market at all.
The brand offers collections for both men and women, plus a designated selection of kidswear. Teenagers are all in on it. The rich kids club are not left out, including music artiste, and social media influencers can get enough of Off-White’s streetwear fashion trend. An Off White t shirt, hoodie, or pair of sneakers can be found in almost every VIP closet.
Collaborations
Yes, Virgil Abloh is a creative and innovative designer. But make no mistake, it took more than just the Off-White’s signature, diagonal lines and arrows to shoot off the brand to top rankings in the fashion world. One thing is certain, Off-White’s many collaborations saw to its sky-rocketing profile.
In 2017, Nike and Off-White came together to redesign 10 of Nike’s famous and best-selling foot-wears. Trust us when we say, the sneakers that came out from the two brands’ collaboration were just amazingly impressive. Most young consumers and celebrities couldn’t get enough of them.
The prices were initially around $200-$300, but you know when celebrities throw their “magic hands” on anything, the popularity will hit the roof. Resale prices suddenly jumped to as high as $1000.
That’s not all because shortly after that, the sports giant also rolled out a collection of sportswear with Off-White’s creative founder for the tennis champion, Serena Williams. She wore it at the US open tournament. That also gave a significant boost to the Off-White brand and popularity.
If you think that’s when concerning Off-White collaborations, you are wrong. Apart from Nike, Champion, SSENSE, Gore-Tex, Browns, Timberland, Sunglass Hut, Burton, Ikea, Kith, Equinox, Grog, and Chrome Hearts, are other brands Off-White worked with.
Even more, Off-White designed a luxury credit card-looking money clip in a collaboration with Hiroshi Fujiwara. These are just a few mentions, but they are undoubtedly some of the moves that made Off-White popular.
The owner of Off-White became Louis Vuitton’s artistic director
You can call it a coup waiting to happen, or a triumph for both sides. However, one of the things that happened was that both Virgil Abloh and his brand, Off-White became more popular when he became the first African-American to become Louis Vuitton’s artistic director.
This had never happened at the popular fashion house for over 150 years. The news hit virtually everywhere as every fashion publication, including business journals could not get enough of the new development.
Luxury Appeal
According to popular rankings, Off-white quickly climbed the popularity ladder, surpassing huge brands like Balenciaga, Gucci, and other big brand names alike. In case you didn’t know, Off-White isn’t publicly traded, so placing a figure on it’s actual revenue is not that easy.
Many of the rankings were done based on data on purchase of the product, social media engagements, Google search data, and of course, a couple of sentimental analyses. So yes there are a couple of uncertainties. However, one thing is clear, one of Virgil Abloh’s goals from the start has been to redefine luxury wear. When he was appointed as artistic director at Louis Vuitton, he said his muse was to make the luxury version of what people love to wear.
