Off-White defined streetwear's golden era — then its founder died and LVMH sold at a loss

Off-White was founded in 2013 by Virgil Abloh and quickly became the defining brand of streetwear's golden age — a bridge between skate culture, high fashion, and the resale economy. Its diagonal stripes, quotation-mark branding, and collaborations with Nike, IKEA, and Levi's made it one of the most recognizable labels of the 2010s. By 2019, Farfetch had acquired Off-White's parent company New Guards Group for $675 million, giving the brand global distribution through a luxury e-commerce platform.

In July 2021, LVMH announced it was taking a 60% stake in Off-White, with Virgil Abloh retaining ownership of the trademark. The deal valued the brand highly and marked the conglomerate's bet that streetwear was the future of luxury. Four months later, in November 2021, Virgil Abloh died of cardiac angiosarcoma at age 41. The brand lost not just its founder but its entire creative north star — Abloh had been the designer, the spokesperson, and the cultural connector all in one.

In April 2022, Ib Kamara was appointed Art & Image Director to succeed Abloh, but the brand's momentum continued to fade. The collaborations slowed, the cultural conversation moved on, and Off-White's once-unassailable hype dissipated. In September 2024, LVMH sold Off-White to Bluestar Alliance — a New York-based brand management company whose portfolio includes Hurley, Tahari, and Kensie. Financial terms were not disclosed, but the sale to a brand management firm signaled a dramatic step down from LVMH's vision of streetwear-led luxury.