On Friday morning, a cloudless sky stretched over the Brooklyn Museum. As the sun marked the arrival of a blistering July, an hour before opening, groups of people lined up to be the first to enter.
It was the first day that ‘Figures of Speech’, a multimedia retrospective of designer Virgil Abloh’s work, was open to the public. Fans were eager to go to the exhibition store, hoping to take home a piece of fashion history. Some craved that history for themselves, while others hunted for resale value.
Breaking barriers in the luxury fashion world and beyond, Mr Abloh was the artistic director of Louis Vuitton’s menswear and the founder of his own brand, Off-White. He died last year at the age of 41, after a private battle with a rare heart cancer.
Curated by writer and curator Antwaun Sargent, the Brooklyn Museum exhibit is the first posthumous showing of “Figures of Speech” — the first iteration was at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago — and celebrates milestones in Mr. abloh. The show is a testament to a life overflowing with creativity in areas across the creative spectrum, including architecture, fashion, art and music.
Hank Strong, a 41-year-old actor, and his son, Elijah Akinsanya, were among the first people in line Friday morning. The two are big fans of Mr. abloh. “Like father, like son,” said Mr. Strong. He had put together his outfit for the day “to pay tribute to Virgil,” which included an Off-White x Jordan T-shirt, Off-White x Air Jordan 1 “Chicago” sneakers and Louis Vuitton sunglasses.
“You could say we’re a bit of a hype animal,” Mr. Strong said with a laugh. But most of all, they respect Mr. Abloh for his legacy as a black designer who opened doors for other young black designers and artists, bridging the worlds of streetwear and luxury with his many collaborations and projects. “He has done a lot for black culture,” said Mr. strong. “To move it forward. Push the envelope for fashion, music, clothes, everything.”
He also added: “The word on the street is, you know, the green Air Force 1s can fall.”
“That’s the most important thing,” said Mr Akinsanya, 19.
Online rumors brought a number of people to the museum, hoping to be there for a “shock drop” of lime-green Off-White x Nike Air Force 1 sneakers via Nike’s sneaker app, SNKRS. Resellers lingered outside the museum, eyes on their phones, waiting until 11 a.m. to strike to see if they could click fast enough to claim a pair of shoes. But when the time came, there was nothing on the app. (The museum, in social media posts (and elsewhere, the rumors tried to dispel them by making it clear that the sneakers would not be available for purchase from the exhibit merchandise.)
Inside, the store was integrated into the exhibition. The store, called “Church & State,” is a nod to Mr. Abloh’s “little distinction between art and commerce,” according to the show description.
As it turned out, for many, the most coveted work on the show wasn’t on a mannequin or on a table, and it wasn’t for sale. Instead, the coveted green sneakers were worn by museum guards as part of a uniform Mr. Abloh had devised for the public security team.
A security guard said several people had asked him about the sneakers. At least one visitor tried to work his way through the sneakers, even lifting a bag of cash and offering to buy them on the spot.
“He took out $2,000 in cash and said, ‘I’ll buy them now,'” the guard said.
The security guards are not allowed to take home their “Figures of Speech” uniform. Their special shirts and sneakers will remain in lockers at the museum, the guard said. On the StockX resale site, pairs of sneakers are selling for $2,249 to $12,500.
Two hours after the show, the store was packed. People stood with arms full of products: tote bags, hats, posters, mugs, sweatshirts, postcards, stickers, key rings and shirts. By 1:30 p.m., the line stretched across two rooms of the exhibit, meandering along the walls near the large wooden house that is the centerpiece of the show. Some were disappointed that the things they had planned to buy were already sold out, but others were happy to have the chance to soak up some of Mr. Abloh’s work and legacy.
Akinyemi, a 27-year-old musical artist living in Brooklyn, noted the difference between those who buy merchandise for themselves and those who plan to resell it: “We also buy it for ourselves, you know? They only get it to make the most money on whatever platform they are on. But this is like, ‘We love the clothes and we want to wear them.’”
Some were mainly there for Mr. Abloh and to see the show, curious from an artistic and cultural point of view. “I’m always interested in people from the diaspora that can be showcased and you can see their art and their thought process,” Kristel St. Omer, 38, a high school teacher who lives in Brooklyn, said. “So I’m just here to support, looking to see what I didn’t know, what I can learn about him.”
Was she planning to visit the store? “I’m definitely going to buy something,” she said. “But I want something that I’m going to use again. I’m not the hypebeast crowd.”
Others expressed the joy of witnessing history and celebrating a designer who ushered in a new future in fashion. Damon McCalla, a mental health consultant who is also a designer and stylist, stared around the room as if it were a feast for the eyes.
Mr McCalla, 44, gestured toward a rainbow neon gradient with a Louis Vuitton look, saying, “I think I fell in love with this.” He cherished the opportunity to buy something for his personal collection and compared it to the way people collect antiques.
“It would mean I have a part of history, a part of something that you can never get back,” he said. “You can have a couture shirt for years and it never goes out of style. Owning a piece of Mr. Abloh’s latest work before he died would mean owning a timeless artifact. It’s like a time capsule.”