Fashion designer Virgil Abloh, director of Louis Vuitton’s menswear line since 2018, passed away on November 28 after a brief battle with cancer, the brand announced on its verified Twitter account.
One of the most influential designers of his generation, Abloh had been privately battling the disease for several years, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton said in a statement on Sunday.
“LVMH, Louis Vuitton and Off White are devastated to announce the passing of Virgil Abloh, on Sunday, November 28th, of cancer, which he had been battling privately for several years,” Louis Vuitton tweeted.
According to a statement on Abloh’s verified Instagram account, the fashion icon battled an aggressive form of cancer in 2019 called cardiac angiosarcoma and “undergoing numerous challenging treatments, all while helming several significant institutions that span fashion, art, and culture.
As the founder of Off-White and the first African-American to lead the French luxury fashion house, he has struggled with cancer for several years. He joined Louis Vuitton in March 2018, and his first show, held in June 2018, marked a turning point in fashion history: the moment when streetwear entered the halls of luxury brands.
The designer said in September 2019 that his physician ordered him to take a break from work, but he never described his illness.
What type of cancer did Virgil Abloh had?
Virgil Abloh had cardiac angiosarcoma. According to Hopkins Medicine Cardiac sarcoma is a rare type of primary malignant (cancerous) tumor that occurs in the heart. A primary cardiac tumor is one that starts in the heart. A secondary cardiac tumor starts somewhere else in the body and then spreads to the heart. Cardiac sarcomas are most frequently diagnosed as angiosarcoma. Most angiosarcomas occur in the right atrium, resulting in obstruction of the inflow or outflow of blood.
