Virgil Abloh, the lead menswear designer for fashion brands like Off White and Louis Vuitton, died on Sunday, according to a statement from France-based company LVMH. The 41-year-old had battled cardiac angiosarcoma, a rare form of cancer in which a tumor occurs in the heart.

Who was Virgil Abloh?

Born in Illinois’ Rockford on September 30, 1980, to parents Nee and Eunice Abloh, Virgil was the elder brother of sister Edwina, 46, according to media reports.

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After completing his primary education at Boylan Catholic High School, Abloh went on to pursue a degree in civil engineering in 2002 at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He later graduated from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 2006 after completing his master’s in Architecture. Abloh also reportedly picked up his love for fashion while pursuing this degree.

Abloh, who grew up in Chicago, was often referred to as a Renaissance man in the fashion world. He moonlighted as a DJ. But in a short time, he emerged as one of fashion’s most heralded designers. Abloh called himself “a maker.” He was named one of Time magazine’s most influential people in 2018.

In 2009, Abloh met Kanye West — now called Ye — while he was working at a screen-printing store. After he and Ye interned together at the LVMH brand Fendi, Abloh was Ye’s creative director.

Abloh was art director for the 2011 Ye-Jay-Z album ‘Watch the Throne,’ for which Abloh was nominated for a Grammy, according to reports from Associated Press.

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Abloh’s work with West served as a blueprint for future border-crossing collaborations that married high and low. With Nike, he partnered his Off-White label for a line of frenzy-inducing sneakers remixed with a variety of styles and Helvetica fonts. Abloh also designed furniture for IKEA, refillable bottles for Evian and Big Mac cartons for McDonald’s. His work was exhibited at the Louvre, the Gagosian and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.