by Lauren Beale and Rebecca Pallmeyer, CNN
Even stars like Kanye West do not normally pay homage to people in ways so creative.
But the talented 39-year-old artist, Virgil Abloh, who was recently named Louis Vuitton’s menswear head, did just that with his final adidas collection, which launched last week.
The fashion week cover of London’s Evening Standard can be traced back to one evening in July 2014, when Abloh attended a wedding.
“We sat with our arms around each other, where we’d never been at any of our previous receptions,” the designer told The Evening Standard in an interview published Friday. “I was literally saying to him, ‘Dude, I have a love letter for you, but I don’t know if you understand yet. This is not a new love letter, this is something that I’ve been working on.’”
It’s a tender, handwritten letter Abloh sent to Abloh, with the handwritten cover art for his Sunday Service collection. (The design, which went viral online Saturday, included the words “All are at home.”)
Kanye West, who later performed the eulogy at Abloh’s wedding, took to Twitter to praise the designer’s talent.
“Here’s a tribute to my dear friend & mentor Mr. VIRGIL ABLOH who is moving into a bigger role at Louis Vuitton. His compositions are the perfect summation of the work I always wanted to do. I admire and love everything about him,” he wrote.
Saturday, West tweeted another tribute to the designer.
“Today is WEDDING PARTY DAY.. FABULOUS!! And THERE IS MULTIPLE KANYE WEST HEADLINERS!!!!!!!! They are CRAZY! This is better than the Grammys!”