Over the weekend, Kanye West‘s Sunday Service choir performed an acapella version of Adele’s ‘Easy On Me’ in tribute to the late Virgil Abloh, who passed away at the weekend.
Abloh was the founder of luxury fashion brand Off-White, as well as the artistic director of Louis Vuitton’s menswear collection. He was also an avid DJ and furniture maker.
He died over the weekend following a two year, private battle with a rare form of cancer known as cardiac angiosarcoma.
Abloh’s death has rocked not only the fashion world, but the creative world at large. He was a barrier-breaking figure in contemporary culture with his fingers in many pies.
As a Black man in a historically white and wealthy industry, his position at LV made him the most powerful Black executive in arguably one of the most successful and powerful fashion houses in the world.
Abloh and West first met when the former was 22. In 2009, West inked a sneaker deal with Louis Vuitton. Abloh was on his creative team at the time, so they set off to Paris for what was set to be a lucrative year for West and his presence in fashion.
In 2010, Abloh was appointed the creative director of West’s creative development project, Donda, which was put together to help bring West’s ideas to life.
Two years later, Abloh brought Off-White to life, though it was originally known as Pyrex Vision.
The pair essentially came up in the fashion world together, each feeding off each other’s creativity, so West’s public tribute to Abloh feels a lot more personal with this context.
Watch the performance below.
