Virgil Abloh’s BLM Response Is Facing Criticism

Off-White label head and Louis Vuitton menswear artistic director Virgil Abloh is facing criticism on Twitter and other platforms after his response to the BLM protests over the death of George Floyd has left many of his supporters disheartened. Over the weekend, while protestors in multiple cities across the country took to the streets to protest police brutality, Abloh shared some musings on his Instagram over the state of streetwear with footage of fellow designer Sean Wotherspoon’s Round Two Vintage store in Los Angeles, which was broken into by looters over the weekend.

“Case & point #81 why I said ‘streetwear’ is dead,” begins Abloh’s Instagram story, referring to previous comments he’s made late last year, “‘Streetwear’ is a detachment to the above. ‘Streetwear’ is yelling and shop staff, starting fights at lineups, defaming us cause we didn’t get enough pairs of shoes cause everyone can’t get a pair. Streetwear is a group of friends that I’m surely was like, ‘C’mon guys, this is Sean’s store, we can’t treat him, like this, we know Sean…”

According to Complex, Abloh later wrote, “If me and my friends tried to loot Alife, Supreme, aNYthing, Prohibit, Union, etc. I would foresee a 40 oz bottle hurling at my head along with it.”

Those critical of Abloh on Twitter were quick to point out that while the luxury designer was lamenting the death of streetwear over the remains of a clothing store, Sean Wotherspoon, the owner of Round Two Vintage shared this message on this Instagram,

“Nothing happening right now is okay. George Floyd should never have been killed, along with other thousands and more of innocent people killed every year because of police brutality, and above all racist behavior. I’m absolutely disgusted with our system, and to be honest, I have trouble finding words for my anger and sadness about the inequality I see in our world. I’m nothing short of sad. I will always stand with the black & brown community and continue to do my best to offer a platform for EVERYONE. We are in this together. I’m here if you need me. We need change and we need it now. BLACK LIVES MATTER!”

Abloh later posted a screenshot to his Instagram story showing a $50 contribution he donated to Fempower, an organization that is helping to pay for the legal expenses of arrested protestors, which many have noted, isn’t enough to buy anything sold by Off-White, including keychains and paperclips. Since Sunday night, #Virgil has been trending in Twitter’s top 10 worldwide. Some of the reactions can be found below:

If you’d like to support the protests and protestors across the country, donate to BLM, Dream Defenders, or the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.