Make It Ours - by Robin Givhan (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Virgil Abloh's iconic rise to the top of the fashion industry embodied a groundbreaking transformation of the relationship between who we are and what we wear.

Abloh's appointment as head of menswear for Louis Vuitton in 2018 shocked the fashion inudstry, as he became the first Black designer to serve as artistic director in the brand's 164-year history. But as Pulitzer Prize-winning culture critic Robin Givhan reveals, Abloh's story encompasses so much more than his own journey.

Using Abloh's surprising path to the top of the luxury establishment, Givhan unfolds the larger story of how the cloistered, exclusive fashion world faced a revolution from below in the form of streetwear and designers unafraid to storm the gates--how their notions of what was luxury simultaneously anticipated and upended consumer preferences, and how a simple T-shirt held as much cultural power as a haute couture gown. As Givhan relays, Abloh rose during a time of existential angst for a fashion inudstry trying to make sense of its responsibilities to a diverse audience and the challenges of selling status to a generation of consumers who fetishized sneakers and prioritized comfort. How that moment came to be--how someone like Abloh, who had no formal training in patternmaking or tailoring, could come to symbolize and embody the industry's way forward--is the story at the heart of this book.

Make It Ours is at once a remarkable biography of a singular creative force and a powerful meditation on fashion and race, taste and exclusivity, genius and luxury. With access to Abloh's family, friends, collaborators, and contemporaries, and featuring a cast of fascinating characters ranging from visionary Black designers like Ozwald Boateng to Abloh's mercurial but critical employer and mentor Kanye West, Givhan weaves a spellbinding tale of a young man's rise amid a cultural moment that would upend a century's worth of ideas about luxury and taste.

Review Quotes

"Robin's look into the life and work of the late, great, Virgil Abloh is thoughtful, intelligent, honest, and masterfully crafted. Virgil's freethinking and influence on the possibilities of what creativity can be was a tour de force. She brilliantly captures Virgil's fearless march forward through his insatiable curiosity, kindness, humility, generosity, and relentless work ethic."--Marc Jacobs, founding creative director of Louis Vuitton ready-to-wear

"A brilliant, captivating book. Robin Givhan brings us inside Virgil Abloh's world, offering fresh insight into his early game-changing culture projects, his fascinating relationship with Kanye West, and the birth of Off-White and his ascension at Louis Vuitton. Make It Ours makes the case for a true cultural giant. A must-read for fashionistas, museumgoers, and sneaker heads alike."--Elaine Welteroth, bestselling author of More Than Enough

"Virgil's journey from humble beginnings to the top of the fashion industry is one that needs to be studied. Make It Ours is a thrilling journey into the mind of a genius."--Edward Enninful, former editor in chief of British Vogue

"Make It Ours is a captivating and beautifully written biography of the talented Virgil Abloh. Virgil was a rule breaker who always had his finger on the pulse, and Robin Givhan's unique perspective and meticulous research expertly chronicles his unconventional path and meteoric rise in fashion. Thought-provoking, emotional, and illuminating, this book is a definite must-read!"--Tom Ford, designer and filmmaker

"[Givhan's] sharp blend of biography, cultural history, and fashion criticism makes effective use of Abloh's story to speak to a recent tectonic shift inside the fashion industry as it reconsiders the meaning of luxury and who gets to decide. The result is an excellent testament to Abloh's enduring influence."--Publishers Weekly, starred review

About the Author

Robin Givhan is Washington Post's senior critic-at-large, writing about politics, race, and the arts. Previously, she covered the fashion industry as a business, as a cultural institution, and as pure pleasure. She is the Pulitzer Prize winner for criticism and author of The Battle of Versailles: The Night American Fashion Stumbled into the Spotlight and Made History. In addition to the Post, where she has also covered Michelle Obama, Givhan has worked at Newsweek, Daily Beast, Vogue, and the Detroit Free Press.