Like the proverbial gift that keeps giving, Virgil Abloh continues to bless our world with his creative ideas even though he no longer shares the same space with us. Some of his collaborative creations, like the Louis Vuitton x Nike Air Force 1s, were completed before his passing. Others, like the Mattel Masters of the Universe collaboration, were finished by the Virgil Abloh Securities company and his London-based design agency, Alaska Alaska.
If you’re an Abloh fan and are looking to get any of the products he designed or created, here are some of the top collections that have been released after his passing. Good luck getting one of them though: most are limited editions that would be truly hard to acquire.
The Virgil Abloh cutlery set for Alessi
In the case of this particular creation, a purchase would be impossible. The cutlery set, named Occasional Object, is a re-imagination of what traditional cutlery sets were created to do.
According to Alberto Alessi, the president of the Italian design home accessories brand, Alessi, “I found that Virgil had a completely different way to look at things and objects, so when he looked at the world of Alessi, it was through the eyes of one who loved the idea of a mechanical workshop. I remember the first reference he showed me was a wrench, very far from what we habitually think of design – it was almost brutalist.”
The Occasional Object collection was presented at the Salone del Mobile fair as part of the wider 100-001 exhibition – the 100 represents the past 100 years of Alessi’s history, while the 001 refers to the first project of its next 100 years – Abloh’s.
The Virgil Abloh Dove belt for Louis Vuitton
The 40MM reversible belt is the statement piece of the LV Fall/Winter 2023 collection designed by Virgil Abloh before he passed. In his usual style, Virgil re-imagined the LV logo, transforming the ‘v’ to a dove holding an olive branch in its beak.
Available in grey and brown with silver and gold hardware respectively, the LV Dove Reversible belt is priced at $950.
Canary Yellow x Syng Cell Alpha Speaker
Earlier this year, premium audio company, Syng, released a limited-edition Cell Alpha speaker created in collaboration with Canary Yellow, the digital archive and retail space founded by the late Virgil Abloh.
Described as the world’s first triphonic speaker boasting a truly immersive audio experience, the $2,399 speaker limited to only 24 pieces was originally a collaborative effort between Abloh and Syng’s co-founder Damon Way. Following the former’s passing in November 2021, Canary Yellow worked together with Syng to complete the project.
Virgil Abloh x Mercedes-Maybach S-Class
Another limited-edition, this time restricted to 150 examples, the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class S680 is part of Project Maybach which was unveiled in 2021.
The bespoke auto comes in a two-tone colour palette of glossy “Obsidian Black” and “Sand.” This unique colourway features on both the exterior and interior of the vehicle and even the 1/18 scale replica of the auto that comes with it.
Launched in the first half of this year, this Maybach by Virgil Abloh was accompanied by a capsule collection designed with Off-White which continues the two-tone colourway.
Masters of the Universe by Virgil Abloh
The most recent of Virgil Abloh’s collaborations, this is yet another project that was completed by his company Virgil Abloh Securities and Alaska Alaska.
Working with Mattel Creations, which collaborates with designers to create collectible items based on Mattel properties, Abloh laid the framework and concept for the collection, which is named Toy. The set features four Master of the Universe collector figures: He-Man, Battle Cat, Skeletor and a Skeletor variation, Skele-God, ranging in colour from dark chocolate brown to light taupe, the last being Abloh’s favourite colour.
Each figure also comes with a comic book and an art print by Reggieknow, an artist and cultural figure who is credited with helping to build the Chicago hip-hop scene through his parties and flyer art.
According to Mattel Creations, the project presented a chance for Abloh to “explore his love of youth culture and his desire for everyone to embrace the child within.” As a child, the designer was a fan of Masters of the Universe and had even featured characters from the franchise in the Paperwork beauty boxes he produced with Off-White. Mattel Creations suggests there has been an evolving narrative in these collaborations. The first Paperwork toys presented the objects as ‘Novelty.’ Now they are ‘Toy.’ A future collaboration, set for release in December 2022, will be titled ‘Art.’