Off-White

Defining The Grey Area Between Black and White ad The Color Off-White

The History

The history of Off White started with a vision from Virgil, and soon went onto become a brand on everyone’s lips. It was founded in America by Virgil Abloh, since 2013, the Milan-based label has opened showrooms in 15 locations around the world and retained a star-studded line-up of customers.

Before Abloh branched out with his new label, he formerly built a streetwear kingdom under the name Pyrex Vision, which many celebrities had embraced with open arms. However, as he later faced controversy regarding reusing and reselling Ralph Lauren’s flannels, at an astronomical price and after slapping the moniker of his own brand on them, he scrapped the company. Despite criticism, it wasn’t long until he eventually came back with his new ambition, and the history of OFF-WHITE started.

The Streetwear Icon

Not only does he now own a brand, but the US entrepreneur is also involved in many other ventures, including founding the RSVP Gallery in Chicago and joining the #BEEN #TRILL crew. He is a DJ and a filmmaker who directed a music video for rapper Lil Uzi Vert last year. And most of all, he is famously known as the creative director of rapper Kanye West’s company DONDA. Abloh is a major icon across the streetwear and music scene.

Besides breeding a new culture, he also puts a lot of effort into perfecting the OFF-WHITE experience. He sets the headquarter in Milan for the reason that he wants the collections to be made in Italy with an American aesthetic, the best quality with an updated, modern approach. The combination of style and quality is the trademark of the brand.

Distinctive Items

Just as how we began this article by addressing some of the most remarkable designs of OFF-WHITE, it is these graphics and execution and the impression that they leave that place the hybrid brand at the forefront of the streetwear scene now. Whenever we see the designs, Abloh comes to our mind. Obviously the zebra pattern, specifically known as diagonals spray, and the moniker ‘WHITE’ are synonymous to the brand. Nonetheless, speaking of signature items, the 200-meter long yellow and black Industrial Buckle Belt is utterly edgy and iconic as well. Its extended length has once been so confusing that OFF-WHITE eventually had to make a video guide on how it could be worn.

In recent years, Abloh started putting everything in “quotes”. He inscribed “SHOELACES” on shoelaces, engraved “SCULPTURE” on the bag he collaborated with houseware giant IKEA, and even labelled his website “WEBSITE”. This is because Abloh believes that everything that leaves in the quotation mark remains to be indefinite, meaning there’s always rooms for questions. This concept very much goes in line with the ideology of the brand – giving people space to unleash their own creativity.

A Brand for Young People

Five years into the establishment, the brand successfully captures the streetwear scene because it has the street and people at its core. OFF-WHITE gives the youth freedom to style themselves instead of dictating who the wearer should be. In Abloh’s dictionary, the younger generation represents a new set of needs and styles. They demand autonomy in terms of what they want to wear and how they mix and match.

For example, in the latest Mens Pre-Fall 2018 collection of the brand, Abloh has demonstrated how a typical workplace outfit, consisting of grey suit, white shirt and blue tie, can match with a pair of black with red stripes slippers. It conveys that there is no rule as of how any of his apparels should be worn. This is a deconstructive attitude and a question to traditions of the fashion industry, which is crucial to make the brand spectacular and outstanding.

In addition, although Abloh is the sole owner of his fashion label, he is seldom working alone to maintain excellent quality outputs. Throughout the years, his partnerships, with the likes of Levi’s, Moncler and Nike, have kept the Milan label in the heart of streetwear. These collaborated projects more or less echo with the brand’s ethos again – paying homage to a classic silhouette with something aligned with Off-White’s very own aesthetic. We have seen Abloh using bolder colours, as well as refashioning Levi’s denims in a way that has created a wear-and-tear vibe in the Made & Crafted capsule. While with Nike “The Ten” collection, the artist deconstructs ten signature sneakers, including the Air Max 97 and Air Jordan 1, restitches and reworks them to deliver a nostalgic but fresh experience. The collaboration, unsurprisingly, has driven many sneakerheads to frustration because of its limited quantity.

The Logo

It is difficult to deny the sheer force that has catapulted Off-White to the forefront of the minds of young, hip, fashion-focused consumers. Much has been made of Virgil Abloh, the mastermind behind the Milan-based brand, in the press since he launched Off-White in 2014 after garnering fans with his (now-defunct) streetwear brand, Pyrex Vision. There is no shortage of lengthy articles devoted to both ventures, and to Abloh, himself, particularly given his ability to step out of the shadow of cousin and mentor Kanye West, and thrive in ways that West has been unable to – namely, in designing fashion.

A Particular Graphic

Our focus is not on the rise of the Off-White brand, though, or on Abloh’s footprint in the worlds of streetwear and high fashion. It is, instead, on Abloh’s use of existing graphics to build a brand that resonates with consumers, and whether he will be able to rely on trademark protection in connection with those very graphics.

Abloh’s most noteworthy offering comes in the form of his brand’s logo – the diagonal line motif that is not in any way exclusive to Off-White. It is the graphic you find on cross-walks and on road signs – and have found there for many decades now, certainly long before Off-White’s inception. As a brand builder, Abloh did something very interesting here. Instead of utilizing a distinctive brand-identifying logo, which is what the vast majority of brands tend to do (save for maybe Target with its bull’s eye logo or Rolex with its stylized crown), he chose one that is completely unoriginal.

An Universal Design

The co-opting of a nearly universal design for use on t-shirts, sweatshirts, trousers, jackets, shoes, and bags comes with significant benefits and drawbacks. On the upside, Abloh has been able to piggyback off of an extremely common and well known design. “Off-White’s designs—brash and loud and graphic, branded with black-and-white diagonal stripes you can recognize from 30 yards away—are everywhere,” Zach Baron wrote for GQ.

Writing for Complex, Cameron Wolf put the power behind this move best: “Even if the general population doesn't recognize those diagonal stripes as Abloh’s, if his followers do, then he’s succeeded. Imagine hundreds of thousands of Off-White fans seeing diagonal lines all the time and automatically thinking of Abloh’s label. That’s extremely powerful because it can make the brand seem larger than it actually is.”

In this way, Abloh has put the street to work for him – sometimes very literally – in creating brand awareness in lieu of having to spend on traditional forms of advertising, such as pricey campaigns or particularly over-the-top runway shows.

This tighter supply only created more demand and ensured the designs mythical status within the streetwear community. Any time between 1994-2002 I used to be able to wander into the store and pick up a Box Logo T-shirt, sweatshirt or hoodie in a choice of colors; it was just a skate store shop tee. Nowadays, the social media rumor mill is constantly whirling around “Box Logo Hype” – when will this season’s drop/which colors/what’s the collab, etc. It’s become the most in-demand design in Supreme’s stellar line-up each year, which is pretty impressive considering its humble origins.

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