Robin Givhan and the cover of ‘Make It Ours: Crashing the Gates of Culture with Virgil Abloh’.Photo:Kevin J. Miyazaki; Crown
Kevin J. Miyazaki; Crown
Crown
“I was interested in Virgil Abloh’s career in fashion because I didn’t understand it. I’d been covering the industry from a multitude of perspectives for decades, but Virgil’s success — and more important, his popularity — were fascinating riddles,” Givhan tells PEOPLE. “His background was untraditional, so that was intriguing. But his fans treated his rise as a collective, groundbreaking victory. It resonated in a deeply personal way that I’d never seen before. I wanted to know why. Why Virgil?”“Ultimately, I wanted to explore how his success changed the fashion industry, while looking at the ways in which the industry itself transformed so that Virgil’s story could even be possible,” Givhan adds.
Make It Oursalso includes stories from Abloh’s friends, family and contemporaries, including designer Ozwald Boateng andKanye West. It was Abloh’s rise during a period of change in the industry, Givhan notes, that set him apart from his collaborators.
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“I learned that many disparate elements led to Virgil’s acclaim: the rising importance of menswear and the young men who love it, the power of social media, the importance of sneaker culture, the impact of the racial justice protests in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder and the distinct advantages of being the child of African immigrants — rather than simply a Black American,” Givhan says.
Robin Givhan.Kevin J. Miyazaki
Kevin J. Miyazaki
Givhan also intends forMake It Oursto showcase how Abloh’s journey was representative of a larger conversation in fashion too.
“I hope readers walk away fromMake It Oursreminded that fashion doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Its evolution is a reflection of shifts throughout the culture, in our politics and in our economics,” Givhan says. “And I hope readers delight in the zigs and zags of Virgil’s career, the characters who influenced him and his simple refusal to give up.”
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.“Whether Virgil’s clothes were good, bad or mediocre is all subjective,” the author adds. “The pertinent question is who gets to make that judgement?”Make It Ours: Crashing the Gates of Culture with Virgil Ablohwill be published on June 24 and is now available for preorder, wherever books are sold.
source: people.com
