“Virgil Was Here”

The Virgil Abloh Archives and the Return to the Physical World

What would you save for the people who come after you? Which objects could carry not just your work, but your way of thinking? Most of us never look that far ahead.

Virgil Abloh did, and he was a giant. A cultural titan whose absence can be felt in every corner of the world he touched. He was the connective tissue across fashion, music, architecture, art, and design.

Years after his passing, it became clear that everyone is still scrambling to find the next cultural leader, particularly in fashion.

As a true multihyphenate, Virgil made a difficult task look simple, achievable, and aspirational. Blending streetwear with high fashion, recontexualizing fine art, and changing the fabric of the modern collaboration.

Another layer of his genius was unveiled recently when GQ released an article revealing the top-secret archive of Virgil Abloh that was uncovered and documented by a group of archivists. It revealed one of the most amazing fashion collections ever assembled, and shed a deeper light into Virgil’s mind:

“Alongside Virgil’s practice as a creator, he tended to work and think archivally.”

“He was designing all kinds of cabinets and vitrives with an eye toward museological storage and display.” -Mahfuz Sultan, via GQ

Virgil saved everything; each step of the creative process was as important as the next. His foresight into the power of physical goods is what we need in this present moment.

As more and more of culture’s attention and time has moved online, there has been an equal resurgence in the desire for physical items and goods—zines, books, vinyl, film cameras, vintage tech, archival fashion.

Long before Louis Vuitton, Virgil planned his legacy. He saved sketches, prototypes, flyers, references—proof that creativity is a collection of living moments. As Shannon Abloh puts it:

“The Virgil Abloh Archive is my way of sharing Virgil with the world… I want you to feel Virgil’s endless curiosity and to see how he thought and created.”

The Virgil Abloh Archive is my way of sharing Virgil with the world—not just his work but his spirit, his process, his humanity,” says Shannon Abloh. “I want you to feel Virgil’s endless curiosity and to see how he thought and created.” -Shannon Abloh via GQ

Virgil was always ahead of the game, and this physical archive is proof of what’s to come for those interested in “Active Resistance”. Active resistance is the idea of going against the common practices of a society that one believes are detrimental, or balancing the way one consumes, spends their time, or invests their energy:

“It’s okay to reject, to abstain, to refrain while you demand better than what’s shoved in front of you. Especially now when it’s shown that the lowest common denominator can and will dominate if unchecked, it’s important to lead by example. You don’t have to succumb to things that you know lead down an unhealthy path, but instead show your own vision, and the ways it can apply to others.” -Mark Sabino, Designer and Cultural Critic

Call it embracing the things you like, and rejecting the things you don’t. Virgil’s practice was the epitome of leading by example, and if we can each try to do that in our own lives, maybe we will start to see some good change.

Humans wanna act like the internet replaced the ancient habit of keeping physical records. There’s only so much data you can fit in a center, or the cloud, before the powers that be decide it’s time to erase it.

Virgil thought like a pharaoh, but instead of taking his prized objects with him and burying them in a sarcophagus, he planned to preserve them and share them with the world.

Whether the popularity of physical artifacts is a form of active resistance to online slop culture or not, physical artifacts carry stories better than feeds. Virgil’s work and philosophies centered around questioning our current realities, and focusing our energy on real and tangible things may be the only path to unlocking a better future.

Virgil Abloh: The Codes, opened September 9th in Paris, and is the first in-person exhibition to reveal the collection.

The Virgil Abloh Archive™, in partnership with Nike, presents Virgil Abloh: The Codes, the first major European exhibition devoted to the work of Virgil Abloh (1980 – 2021), one of the 21st century's most influential designers.

On view at the Grand Palais from September 30 (Abloh's birthday) through October 10, 2025, the exhibition explores nearly two decades of Abloh's multidisciplinary output through the lens of his 20,000-object archive, bringing together hundreds of objects, prototypes, sketches, and images from Abloh's career, as well his personal collections and library. Curated by Chloe Sultan & Mahfuz Sultan, the exhibition serves as an expanded edition of the 2022 Virgil Abloh: The Codes exhibition, tracing how Abloh's signature design principles – his “codes” – thread through his work in apparel, footwear, architecture, music, advertising, and more, unifying a practice that spans multiple disciplines. The Codes also highlights Abloh's collaborations with several artists, designers, and athletes, underscoring the ethos of collectivity and creative dialogue at the heart of his work. -