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Virgil Abloh responds to criticism over 'looting' comments and $50 bail fund donation following Black Lives Matter protests

Getty Images
Getty Images

Off-White and Louis Vuitton Menswear designer Virgil Abloh has responded to backlash that followed his critical comments about looters targeting streetwear stores and his public $50 donation to a Miami bail fund.

After being criticised for seemingly prioritising material items over the central message behind the George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests and for his small donation despite his wealth, he has since responded on Twitter with an apology and “a few central facts.”

Posting a lengthy Notes app statement to Twitter, Abloh wrote, “I apologise that my comments yesterday appeared as if my main concerns are anything other than full solidarity with the movements against police violence, racism, and inequality.”

Virgil Abloh (Getty Images)
Virgil Abloh (Getty Images)

“Yesterday I spoke about how my stores and stores of my friends were looted. I apologise that it seemed like my concern for those stores outweighed my concern for our right to protest injustice and express our anger and rage in this moment,” he continued.

Abloh continued, “People who criticise ‘looting’ often do so as a way to make it seem like our fight against injustice isn’t legitimate. I did not realise the ways my comments accidentally contributed to that narrative. As mentioned yesterday, if looting eases pain and furthers the overall mission, it is within good standing with me.”

He also continued that he was “fortunate enough to be able to rebuild my stores” and added that he would be helping “anyone who needs help rebuilding”, especially those who have already been hit hard as a result of COVID-19.

Abloh with Rihanna (Getty Images )
Abloh with Rihanna (Getty Images )

Abloh also apologised for his $50 donation to the Fempower Community Bond Fund in Miami, which he publicised on social media.

He clarified that he had been tagged in a “social media chain of friends” which challenged people to match $50 donations, though clarified that he had in total donated $20,500 to various organisations but had refrained from publicising it.

He said, “I apologise that [it] appeared to some as if that was my only donation to these important causes... I can understand your frustration if you think my contributions were limited to $50. Purely false when it comes to the total. I have donated $20,500 to bail funds and other causes related to this movement.”

Explaining his frame of mind, he said, “I was on the fence about publicising total dollar amounts because I didn’t want to look like I’m glorifying only higher amounts, or that I want to be applauded for it. If you know me, you know that’s not me."

Calling himself an “agent of change”, he continued that he was and “am doing the work” to affect meaningful change against racial injustice. Abloh reaffirmed his support for the George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests, saying that every police officer “involved” with Floyd’s death should be charged “UNEQUIVOCALLY.”

He also spoke about his own personal experience of racism, calling himself “a black man. A dark black man. Like dark-dark.” He continued that he lives “as if I’m walking on my tip-toes” and continued that “any interaction with the police could be fatal to me.”

He said that at the end of the day, his accolades as the mind behind Off-White or as Louis Vuitton Men’s Creative Director meant nothing during an encounter with the police.

He said, “39 years of my life could be reduced in a 1 second radio call to the police.”

He also acknowledged that he was in a privileged position and said, “As a black person, I have felt anger, sadness, and pain every time one of us is held victim of prejudice or systemic racism. I am proud to stand in solidarity with every movement to eradicate racism and police violence.”

He finished his statement, “When you see me in any space, city, museum, restaurant, on the bench of the Mercer, in Italy at Bar Brasso, in Pigalle in the line at Dumbo, in LA on Fairfax or at the end of a runway show in Paris know that I’m carrying the flag to redefine the box that we as black people have been put in. I lead with love and move with respect to everyone I ever meet.”