Virgil Abloh's Unconventional Path To Luxury Fashion

NPR

Published June 26, 2025 at 4:07 PM EDT

Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Robin Givhan talks with Tonya Mosley about her new book, Make It Ours: Crashing the Gates of Culture with Virgil Abloh. It's a powerful look at the life and influence of the late designer, who made history as the first Black American artistic director of menswear at Louis Vuitton. Givhan reveals how Abloh, the son of Ghanaian immigrants and a digital native, shaped by hip hop and skate culture, was able to penetrate fashion's elite barriers and redefine who gets to belong.

Also, film critic Justin Chang reviews the summer blockbuster F1 starring Brad Pitt.

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