Virgil Abloh: founder of Off-White; creative director of Louis Vuitton menswear; man who has many fingers in many pies. Since his days as a creative consultant for Kanye, the Illinois-born polymath has mastered the fine arts of branding and craftsmanship, often permitting the two to overlap.
That’s true of his latest venture too. Yup, Off-White’s long standing position as a fashion and pop cultural influencer has bled into the world of music videos. Virgil has just announced the launch of the Off-White International Rap Video Production Studio.
Having previously directed visuals for Lil Uzi Vert’s “XO Tour Llif3” under his own name, Virgil is now creating music videos under the Off-White moniker. The first installment? The video for Pop Smoke and Quavo’s “Shake the Room”.
Though we don’t have the full clip yet, a preview posted by Hypebeast gives us a strong look into the Off-White rap video aesthetic. The mini DV footage — layered beneath a scrappy cut out screen-grab and embossed spray paint text — captures Pop Smoke and Quavo wreaking havoc in Paris the night of Virgil’s Off-White AW20 show. With distorted graphics interlaced throughout, it feels like an homage to homemade rap video culture but with an elevated twist; everyone who appears in the video is styled in Off-White.
This is just the first entry into a soon-to-be burgeoning catalogue of music visuals. The question is: who from the Off-White front row will join Pop Smoke and Quavo as part of the International Rap Video Production Studio family in the near future?