Shannon Abloh is ready to talk

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In early November, a few weeks before the first anniversary of her husband's death, Virgil Abloh — founder of Off-White, designer of Louis Vuitton menswear, collaborator at Nike, artist, polymath of versatile design and master of quotes - Shannon Abloh flew from Chicago to New York to accept an award on her behalf.

The award has was awarded by the Council of Fashion Designers of America at a gala evening, and although Mr. Abloh was nominated many times during his life and always put on his tuxedo and went to the ceremony, Mrs. Abloh did not l hadn't done t. She had stayed home with their two young children and their dogs, just as she had stayed away when her husband went to the Met Gala with Kendall Jenner, or was D.J. at Coachella.

As public as Mr. Abloh had been, going around the world, sending WhatsApp messages to his various artistic circles around the world, Mrs. Abloh had been private. She had never given an interview. There are few pictures of the couple together. When Rihanna and ASAP Rocky and Lauryn Hill and Tyler the Creator traveled to Chicago for Mr. Abloh's memorial service at the Museum of Contemporary Art last December, it was the first time many of them had been in the Abloh house.

"It was never something we discussed," Ms. Abloh said as she prepared to head to the awards, referring to his decision to stay out of the spotlight. "It was just the way our relationship worked." She was camping at the Mercer Hotel, wearing faded boyfriend jeans and a t-shirt with a pair of Off-White x Air Jordan 4s that Mr. Abloh had dyed purple for her because purple is his favorite color .

< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">"We knew we wanted to build this close family, and we needed someone to be the steady partner," she said. "I was happy to do that."

Now, however, the spotlight has found her. After a year of politely listening to the experts and names in bold on display about Mr Abloh's life and work and what he would have wanted, Mrs Abloh, 41, decided he was time to define her husband's legacy herself.

< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">"It belongs to me, it belongs to his children," she said. "After he passed, so many people came up to me and said, 'Virgil was my best friend.' His best friend in the fashion industry, his best friend in the music business. Many of his collaborators, or even people who maybe weren't that close to him, think, "I can do this to help his legacy, or I can do that to help his legacy." It's like this train that's running at 800 km per hour, and I just thought: I have to stay on this train, because if I don't, I don't know where it will go. This is my place and my position."

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