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Virgil Abloh to Be Celebrated in Nordstrom’s Latest Pop-up

Nordstrom is dedicating its latest New Concepts@Nordstrom shop to late designer Virgil Abloh.

On Thursday, the retailer in partnership with Abloh’s estate, will unveil Concept 018: Virgil Abloh Securities, which will encompass a variety of his endeavors in fashion, art and culture. The shop will include pieces from his apparel brand Off-White, as well as his creative studio Alaska Alaska, art store Canary Yellow and the Church & State merchandise from Abloh’s “Figures of Speech” exhibition on display at the Brooklyn Museum.

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Virgil Abloh Securities is a creative corporation founded by the designer, who died in December at the age of 41 after a two-year battle with cardiac angiosarcoma, that hopes to maintain his approach and ethos.

Nordstrom is a sponsor of the exhibition at the museum that runs through Jan. 29, 2023 and the campaign images for the Concept 018 shop were shot outside of the Brooklyn landmark. The retailer partnered with the museum on the exhibition opening party in June, as well as on the “Brooklyn Talk” series that honored the legacy of Abloh. Throughout the duration of the exhibition and the New Concepts shop, Nordstrom will continue to partner on events and activations with the Brooklyn Museum including the Social Sculptures series featuring Jian DeLeon, men’s fashion and editorial director at Nordstrom, and the Teen Night programming where Nordstrom will participate in a mentorship session.

Sam Lobban, Nordstrom’s executive vice president and general merchandise manager of apparel and designer, who launched the New Concepts concept, said: “We are excited and honored to bring Concept 018: Virgil Abloh Securities to fruition. We started working on the project with Virgil and his team back in March 2021, and hope that the end result can help in celebrating his passion, energy and purpose which he brought to every endeavor. We’re grateful to Shannon Abloh and the Virgil Abloh Securities team for the opportunity and are excited for our customers to be able to participate in continuing his legacy.”

The retailer is a sponsor of the Abloh exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum.
The retailer is a sponsor of the Abloh exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum.

The shop features men’s and women’s ready-to-wear, shoes and accessories. It includes an exclusive capsule from Off-White with embroidered T-shirts and hoodies, varsity jackets, track pants and a check shirt and matching kilt for men, and dresses, cropped T-shirts, sweatshirts, overshirts and lace dégradé tops and pants for women. Prices range from $400 for the cropped T-shirts to $4,465 for an embroidered Strass varsity jacket. There are also baseball caps for $330, dégradé sneakers for $605, bags for $1,935 and the Paperwork fragrance for $185.

The Canary Yellow offering includes T-shirts with an Abloh stripe for $55, a Virgil Abloh Securities logo or the quote: “Design is the Freshest Scam” for $65, as well as grip tape for $28, a candle for $15 and keychains for $12. There’s also a Denim Tears x Canary Yellow hoodie and T-shirt.

Other pieces in the shop include a collaboration with skateboarder Sal Barbier that includes T-shirts, hoodies, jackets, jeans, a cap and sneakers ranging in price from $335 to $940 and a selection of skateboards retailing for $545.

The Figures of Speech/Brooklyn Museum line, which includes children’s apparel as well as adult, ranges from T-shirts and hoodies and track pants to mugs, totes, postcards and stickers that range in price from $9 to $130.

In addition to the shop and exhibit, Nordstrom is making a donation to the Fashion Scholarship Fund’s Virgil Abloh “Post-Modern” Scholarship Fund to foster equity and inclusion in the fashion industry by providing scholarships to students of academic promise of Black, African American or African descent. The fund will include a direct donation to selected scholars and the opportunity for them to be mentored by Nordstrom executives on the retail part of the fashion industry.

Concept 018: Virgil Abloh Securities will be available at 15 Nordstrom locations around the country including the men’s store in New York, the Seattle flagship, units in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and Pittsburgh, as well as online.

Previous Concept pop-ups have included those devoted to sports as well as brands Fear of God, Pangaia and Thom Browne.

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