Off-White creates a digital experience for SS21 collection

Virgil Abloh, creative director of Off-White, has debuted his spring-summer 2021 collection via an immersive digital experience called Imaginary TV.

The multi-media digital event was custom-created for the day, with the collection titled “Adam is Eve.” The see-now, buy-now collection teased the launch of a new must-have accessory called The Burrow Bag.

Abloh said he was inspired to create a globally connected digital event as a television set. Users could flip through the brand’s virtual landscape like channels, each representing a different concept inspired by the collection. Abloh stated in a press release that “we’re living in a world and at a time that is already largely digitally native. Within the collection itself, I wanted to capture what it is to be human at this very moment. Conundrum is ok, glitches are ok, duality is ok, and a dissolution of norms is ok.”

The collection itself aims to erase gender-conformist boundaries and codes with genderfluid bags, blazers, skirts, and dresses. Abloh also incorporated face coverings in his collection through knitwear that boasts tall necklines pulled above the mouth. The new gender-blended collection is an evolution of Abloh’s design ethos.

Merging technology and fashion

The webpage itself featured lime-green arial font with a static black background reminiscence of early computer usage. As users scrolled through the digital channels, they were met with a pool of talented people broadcasted live from the Off-white warehouse in Milan, Italy. People rock climbing, doing ballet, drumming, painting, playing the piano, dancing, djing, all alongside models walking the runway showing the collection.

Users were treated to live performances from Nigerian rocker Mdou Moctar and Tai Chi Olympian Liang Biying. The creatives were selected by Abloh himself while the custom-built interface “captures a universal approach to creativity by promoting inclusivity and pushing the envelope forward in terms of how the industry, consumers and fans alike interact with one another,” stated Abloh.

The mesmerizing imagery mixed with pops of vivid fashion pulls the brand in a new direction. “I want to connect and generate a global network, and bring together creativity while catalyzing a range of emotions,” Abloh added.

You can find the collection now on Off-White’s Imaginary TV site. The spring-summer 2021 collection drops in stores starting today.

Photo credit: Off-White, Facebook