Virgil Abloh designed some very literal OFF-WHITE™ merchandise for The Met’s new Costume Center exhibition, In America: A Lexicon of Fashion, perhaps a reflection of “>his “Modernism” Met Gala look.
Abloh, whose work is featured in the show, cuts to the chase with a range of apparel labeled with a description of each garment in all-caps, san-serif type.
For example, a beige hoodie reads: “THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART HOODIE DESIGNED BY OFF-WHITE C/O VIRGIL ABLOH™ © 2021.”
A beige T-shirt, dad cap, and oatmeal-colored Jitney bag riff on the same script. (We have to give Abloh credit for refusing to beat around the bush) Given the popularity of Abloh’s MCA Chicago designs and ICA Boston pop-up shop, which was just extended due to demand, the merch will likely be a hit among OFF-WHITE™ fans.
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The pieces are reminiscent of the designer’s similarly tongue-in-cheek merch for Camp: Notes on Fashion, The Met’s 2019 Costume Center extravaganza.
Abloh joins a selection of other American designers participating in merch drops for this year’s Met show.
Brands including Brother Vellies, Pyer Moss, and Collina Strada will release capsule collections exclusively through The Met’s Instagram shop, a move certainly influenced by the app’s sponsorship of In America. Items will later drop via The Met’s website.
Instagram’s involvement in the show helped open the museum to a range of emerging designers outside of the LVMH–Kering sphere. Now, the platform’s online shopping experience is allowing customers outside of New York City to purchase a piece of the exhibit for themselves.
It remains to be seen what each remaining brand has in store, merch-wise. Will Brother Vellies, known for its footwear, release a museum-themed shoe? Will Collina Strada, fingers crossed, make its horse girl-inspired look for Kim Petras available to the masses?
Keep an eye on @themetstore’s Instagram shop for each designer capsule to release on a monthly basis through April 2022.
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