Virgil Abloh presented his fall 2021 Off-White collection at the haute couture shows in Paris last July. At the time the show read as a statement of confidence and ambition. “Off-White should be adult,” he told my colleague. With the designer’s sudden passing in November, that show now acts as a sort of template for subsequent collections, the first of which is spring 2022, appearing here. Off-White, as Abloh put it half a year ago, is “adjacent to streetwear,” but it’s not hemmed in by it. He was a restless spirit, prone to rebel against labels and the constraints of time. “I get frustrated if I don’t feel an evolution, and the message becomes monotonous,” he also said. “I feel the world’s changed.”
The world has changed profoundly for the Off-White design studio and the New Guards Group that produces the OW collections. Going forward, their job will be striking a balance between homage and honoring Abloh’s drive for constant forward movement. Designed before his passing, this collection makes good on the “more adult” Off-White, while also celebrating childhood and youthful games. The collection’s name is Sticks & Stones. If it were anybody else, that might sound like a post-mortem tweak of former detractors, but that’s not Abloh’s style. A brand rep described it as a playful endorsement of doing your own thing.
The men’s tailoring is sharply done—adult, if you will—but the jackets are distinguished by large circular rings embroidered over the chest pockets. These were apparently inspired by Meccano, the century-old model construction system designed by the English inventor Frank Hornby that might’ve prompted Abloh’s pursuit of architecture later on. Circles have been a recurring motif at Off-White, but these are more orderly than the meteors that bit holes into OW sportswear and accessories in recent seasons. They also appear as closures on men’s jackets made from what looks like bubble wrap, and as cut-outs on women’s knitwear.
Workwear is another theme that crosses both collections: pants come with cargo pockets, and jackets, coats have zip pouches on their sleeves, and quilted boots are designed with handles on each side of the shaft, the better to pull them on and off. Utility, though, is only part of the story in the women’s collection, which was lent its on-trend sexy streak by lingerie and activewear touches. As for roots, the collection’s graffiti prints and embroideries are the result of a collaboration with Neen, a street artist from Abloh’s hometurf in Chicago. A trench makes a particularly good canvas for the graphic, old school tags that combine her name with Off-White’s own signature crossed arrows.
Otherwise, and contrary to what might be expected of a posthumous collection, the famous logo makes few appearances, and when it does it’s shrunken, as on the straps of a second-skin leather minidress. Where Off-White goes next—whether it stays streetwear-adjacent, or doesnt; just how large a role that logo will have, and who among Abloh’s wide circle of friends and mentees will get their hands on it—will play out over the next few months. But the near term is clear. The brand will honor Abloh with an “immersive runway experience” on February 28, the first day of Paris Fashion Week. According to a release, the celebration will “embrace the joy and eternal optimism of [Off-White’s] founder” as it “strives to continue [his] work of opening doors and inviting all to the conversation.”
