<P> After graduating from university, he interned at Fendi in the same class as rapper Kanye West in 2009 . Placed in the company's Rome, Italy office, the two began a collaborative relationship . A year later, West appointed Abloh the creative director of his creative agency, DONDA . In 2011, West asked him to serve as the artistic director for the 2011 Jay - Z / Kanye West album Watch the Throne . In 2012, Abloh launched his first company, Pyrex Vision, a small boutique of couture streetwear . Abloh purchased deadstock clothing from Ralph Lauren for $40, screen - printed designs on them and sold them for prices upward of $550 . He closed the company down a year later as he did not intend it to be a commercial enterprise but an artistic experiment . </P> <P> Abloh on the inspiration behind founding high - end streetwear label, Off - White . </P> <P> Abloh founded his first fashion house and second business overall in 2013 with the high - end streetwear brand Off - White . Based in Milan, Italy, the company was described by Abloh as "the gray area between black and white as the color off - white" to investors and fashion critics . He launched the company's women's wear line in 2014 and showed the collections at the Paris Fashion Week . His collections were selected as a finalist for the LVMH Prize, an industry award, but lost to Marques'Almeida and Jacquemus . Abloh launched his first concept store for Off - White in Tokyo, Japan where he started the company's furniture arm, Grey Area . In 2017, he was asked to design a new collection in conjunction with Nike entitled "The Ten" where he re-designed a variety of the company's best - selling shoes . Virgil also partnered up with the Swedish furniture company IKEA to design furniture for apartments and houses . It is aimed primarily at Millennials looking for furnish their first home . The collection will be named Markerad which is a Swedish word meaning "clear - cut; crisp; pronounced" and is scheduled to release in 2019 . </P> <P> On March 25, 2018, Abloh was named artistic director of Louis Vuitton's menswear line, marking him the first person of African descent to lead the brand's menswear line, as well as one of the few black designers at the helm of a major French fashion house . Upon his acceptance of the position, he stated, "It is an honor for me to accept this position . I find the heritage and creative integrity of the house are key inspirations and will look to reference them both while drawing parallels to modern times". Abloh is set to showcase his first collection for Louis Vuitton at the 2018 Men's Fashion Week in Paris . </P>

Where did the name off white come from
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