Off-White

History of Off-White Eyewear, the urban luxury brand

Off-White is a luxury urban fashion brand founded in Milan in 2013 by designer Virgil Abloh and owned by the LVMH group since 2021. Although in theory (and in practice) Off-White is a brand, Abloh defined it as "an artistic project that expresses itself through garments. The clothes are just a means to create a new language."

It is a brand that was born out of the need to capture the culture of the time and capture the real needs of the people. Abloh wanted to introduce the whole world of urban culture in Paris and from there to the rest of the world.

In just over ten years, Off-White has become one of the favorite brands of important influencers such as Beyonce, Ariana Grande, the Hadid sisters or Hailey Bieber. Gaining millions of followers around the world.

Off-White also triumphs with its successful featuring, highlighting its union with Nike for the Tokyo Olympics, with Kimmy Choo or with Ikea for the creation of a furniture line.

A few months after the LVMH group bought Off-White, Virgil Abloh died of cancer at the age of 41. Despite this tragedy, Abloh is still very present in everything related to the brand and if there is an iconic eyewear model that is Virgil.

Legacy of Virgil Abloh, creator of Off-White sunglasses

Virgil Abloh was born in 1980 in Rockford (Illinois, USA), a city where his parents had emigrated from Ghana. From a very young age he began to soak up the references of urban culture, skateboarding and hip hop.

He studied Civil Engineering and while doing a master’s degree in architecture he started working in a silkscreen printing store that the designer Don C occasionally visited. Through Don C, Abloh met Kanye West who hired him as a creative assistant and later became his creative director. Just Ye started working at Fendi in 2009. This is how he met the fashion world.

In 2012 he created his first brand and boutique: Pyrex Vision, to turn the ordinary into luxury street fashion. He would buy clothes from luxury brands in outlets, customize them and resell them for hundreds of pounds. Artists such as Chris Brown, Rihanna, and A$AP Rocky began to praise him. The project lasted a year and gave way to the creation of Off-White in 2013.

In 2018 Louis Vuitton named Virgil Abloh designer of the brand's men's collections. Three years later he sold 60% of Off-White to the LVMH group and a few months later he passed away.

Vytria glasses design: skate and hip-hop culture

It was in 2021 when Virgil Abloh launched a children's fashion line and the first Eyewear collection. This line of Off-White sunglasses is defined as "genderless, edgy and daring".

Each model in the collection represented an aspect of the brand and visibly displayed the logo of arrows and/or Off-White's characteristic typography, closely linked to skate culture and the world of hip hop music.

Some of those early models are Cady (shows Abloh's obsession with sleek frames adorned with holes), The Cape (they tell of Virgil's adolescence during the 90s) or Alps (ski-inspired design, with wrap-around frame and oversize lenses).

Off-White has become one of the most desired brands, especially among young people and fans of urban culture and street style, thanks to its avant-garde aesthetics, its collaborations with Nike, Levi's or Rimowa and its social media profiles.

Of course, the great success of the brand is also due to Abloh's work as Louis Vuitton's men's artistic designer, which allowed him to give more visibility and international expansion to his spoiled child.

Since Virgil Abloh's death, it is his creative team that has continued at the helm of Off-White. A team led by Ibrahim Kamara.

Retro futurism: latest Off-White eyewear collections

Since the year of its creation, Off-White has stood out for its avant-garde aesthetic of futuristic retro style and for having a totally disruptive approach to fashion and luxury. They create different and unique garments, accessories, and eyewear thanks to the perfect combination of urban fashion, luxury, and tailoring.

The new Off-White eyewear collection is another example of the retro futurism that characterizes all the brand's designs and bets on genderless silhouettes. A line inspired by Off-White's own graphics.

The two elements that characterize Off-White eyewear are the logo, always visible and highly relevant, and the iconic arrow, which they have reinterpreted to show off in several of their models. Once again, the iconic models are back, such as the Virgil or the rectangular glasses baptized as Arthur.

Another of the firm's successes has been the creation of genderless eyewear, adapting to today's society that proves every day that fashion has no gender. Off-White has already captivated many followers and we must confess that it is also one of Vytria's favorite eyewear brands. That's why you will always find the latest Off-White eyewear collections on our website.