Essay Development; System Magazine Report on OFF-WHITE c/o IKEA

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When developing and researching ideas surrounding Scandinavian Design I came across Systems new subscription which details the work of Virgil Abloh of OFF-WHITE, an American high fashion house that is bang on trend at the minute with consumer and pop culture. OFF-WHITE is a fashion label founded by DJ and fashion designer Virgil Abloh in 2012, following his reappropriated art experiment, PYREX VISION. The current designs range from patchwork to graphic t-shirts, and all of them feature the company’s now trademark stripes, noticeably embossed on its back along with its name “WHITE.” As well as, being carried by various retailers worldwide, OFF-WHITE opened its first location and flagship store in Hong Kong. It was for his collaboration with IKEA by which has interested me in looking into him further. 

 Known for continually pushing the envelope and offering some of the world’s most concise, dynamic reports on a variety of hot topics, issue 10 of System Magazine comes as no exception. Having blasted the 2017 poster boy for fashion, Virgil Abloh, over expansive four covers, all shot by renowned German photographer, Juergen Teller, issue 10 is set to be one for the record books. Having spent an impressive six months with Virgil Abloh and urged conversations between the Off-White leader and other notable creatives such as Hans Ulrich Obrist and architect, Rem Koolhaas, the latest issue has done itself a great servitude in its quest to answer, “What is Virgil Abloh?” 


 


 The report, which is an added bonus to the magazine subscription, really does offer material to enhance my essay to another scope - taking a look at the way in which Scandi-Collaborations could think about the future and the way customer path that IKEA could be following. The report holds a vast interview with Abloh about his first ideas on the project. Here are some excellent quotes that I have picked from the report that relate to Scandinavia, Consumerism and Design:
  • Millenial is an in-vogue term, but because I am an older millennial I can decode the reasons why it is so important
  • Millenials are potent
  • They have been trained by the advent of social media 
  • Equally trying to communicate with the tourist and the purist at the same time
  • Ask someone to design a t-shirt, and you won't get their full DNA. Ask someone to develop a chair, and you see what they ate for breakfast. 
  • Living among art improves your quality of life - you can almost change the quality of a situation by living next to something that is inspiring - that's where my projects come from
  • Modernism to me is an update. You are put on earth at this particular moment in time, you download the past, and you provide a new operating system.  
The overall feel and message for the report is simple; it tackles the future and the idea of modernism and millennial consumer markets - in a way how we are always chasing the hype and pursuing something that will still be a method of post-production. 

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