Virgil Abloh's Final Sneaker Is Off-White™'s Past, Present & Future (EXCLUSIVE)
No one element of Off-White™ reflects Virgil Abloh's legacy — instead, the entire brand is made in the image of its late founder. So, even as artistic director Ib Kamara continues to innovate, he's conscious of the footsteps in which he treads.
"It's a great honor and privilege to be in this position and be able to still celebrate V and have his vision as part of our daily conversation," Kamara tells me. "I'm always aware of where this brand comes from, who V was and what he stood for. He was always three steps ahead."
In light of the massive foundation that Abloh laid for Off-White™, a single shoe might seem an unassuming cornerstone. Except that the VULCANIZED 779 is hardly a single shoe.
The VULCANIZED 779 is the final shoe designed by Abloh himself, finally set to be released nearly three years after its inception.
"This specific shoe is so linked into V and his vision as well as the ethos of Off-White™️," Kamara underlined. "It's about youth, it's a celebration of culture and a connection to community. It sums up beautifully who we are at Off-White™ and what the brand is about."
The VULCANIZED 779, abbreviated as the VULC 779 — the number an homage to the area code of Abloh's hometown in Rockford City — is a skate shoe. It is also a luxury sneaker.
But above all, it is a mission statement.
"The VULC 779 — more than many other products we have created and launched — embodies the ethos of the brand we continue to nurture," continues Off-White™ CEO Cristiano Fagnani.
"Yet the launch of VULC 779 hits different. It's a project that carries a lot of emotions for me, a true labor of love for the entire team involved."
"Virgil did a deep dive into his own history to start the initial design of this shoe," explain Nate Jobe, Head of Footwear Design NGG++ and Enrico Nicolin, NGG Sneaker Specialist and one of Abloh's VULC 779 design partners. "The VULC 779 is a descendent of all the past vulcanized Off-White™ shoes and it carries traits from the iterations."
You can see stylistic throughlines between the VULC 779 and some of Off-White™'s previous skate-adjacent sneakers, though the visual language is newly toned down.
For instance, the house's striped motif is modestly manifested in the embossed midsole and stitched heel. The stark logo on placed atop the VULC 779's puffy tongue is the sole example of overt branding.
The overtures between Off-White™'s new sneaker and its inimitable founder instead become especially clear in the context of the campaign imagery shot for the VULC 779's international launch, wherein young skaters like Adrianne Sloboh, Davey Sales, Gabriel Fortunato, and Jessyka Bailey demonstrate its real-world capabilities.
And then there's the far-reaching rollout. Off-White™ is (deservedly) treating the VULC 779 like a touring art exhibit, debuting the shoe at Selfridges in London on July 11, before taking it to Four Amsterdam on July 18 and then END.'s boutique in Milan — the city that parent company New Guards Group calls home — on July 25.
The 779 EXPO will then take over Off-White™'s em pty gallery flagship store in New York before it finally sees international release in September via Off-White™'s website, stores and stockists.
The "VULC 779 dates back to 2021," Fagnani explains. "We have protected this project till now, until we felt it was the right time for it. Until we felt ready for it. The shoe had to see the light of day, but in the right way."
At each step in the sneaker's globetrotting journey, it will be accompanied by the young creatives whose ingenuity inspired Abloh, even as he inspired them.
At Selfridges, for instance, free skate lessons will be offered, partially, as a demonstration of the VULC 779's utilitarian core — "The design of the VULC 779 is pure skate," Jobe and Nicolin explain. This is a luxury shoe that's meant to be thrashed. — but also as an extension of Abloh's barrier-smashing ethos. Meanwhile, in Milan, local skaters will be invited to shred custom obstacles that'll then be put on display next to the sneakers.
And "young global creatives" like SOLDIER, Slawn, Kyota Umeki and Fin Flint have contributed everything from music to zines to "architectural constructs" to 779 EXPO.
The idea, if it wasn't already clear, is that the VULC 779's launch is not merely the launch of a shoe. It's the realization of Off-White™'s past, present and future in a single, clarified object, a luxurious sneaker inspired by youth culture and intended to take a beating.
There could hardly be anything more exemplary of the man who invited Lucien Clarke to create Louis Vuitton's first-ever signature skate shoe.
"My job — as V taught us — is to question everything. Making sure the work is deliberate and motivated," Fagnani notes. "Inspiration, innovation, self expression, imagination, inclusion connect Off-White™ to youth culture. The people that wear OW™ sneakers, their journeys and the story they will write, make them special."
"The VULC 779 is our way to pay homage and respect to the skate culture in our own way," Kamara explains. "We create new spaces, safe spaces open to all. There is no room at the table? We design a new one. I keep that spirit with me and embrace change and integrate parts of my African heritage into the house that Virgil built."
