Exclusive: Virgil Abloh Is Releasing a Limited-Edition Moët & Chandon Champagne Bottle
Virgil Abloh isn't just a fashion designer. He never has been. His career has spanned architecture, engineering, music, furniture, and beyond. But to him, there's no real difference. They are all art forms. That's why it's not out of character for Abloh to drop a collaboration like the one he just unveiled: A Moët & Chandon Nectar Imperial Rose Champagne bottle.
Abloh designed a 750ml bottle and a 3L jeroboam (you know, like, a huge-size bottle). The small bottle will be available for $60 at select stores in New York, Miami, L.A., Atlanta, and Chicago starting October 1, and available online at Clos19.com starting October 15. The oversized jeroboam will only be available to friends and family of the designer.
Moët is part of the LVMH group that also houses Louis Vuitton, which is under Abloh's creative direction, so it's not hard to see the jump. The Champagne company is also at the top of its own proverbial food chain—another staple in Abloh's strategy. We talked to the designer about the bottle, his own approach to design, and building his ideal career.
His collaborations are more natural than they might seem.
My career has been using collaborations to highlight brands that are the best in category. Quite essentially, I like these icons of lifestyle. Whether that’s fashion or footwear or home or lifestyle, these things that are leaders in their categories. With Moët, it was a kind of organic meeting of the minds, trying to figure out how we could treat the bottle to still be focused on the product.
Anything can be a source of inspiration.
I go outside my front door. By listening to music or following what's happening in the music industry, or just conversing with friends and finding out what's on the cuff—by doing that, it’s pretty easy to tune into what people are talking about. The Internet is the new newspaper, too; it’s how people communicate. I don't look at it as a total separate entity. I’m like a sponge. Everything I see, everything that is relevant, that I consume, comes out in the work that I do—in my approach and my design and how I express ideas. I’m very much translating different things into my output.
He doesn't have a definable personal style.
Both those words [personal style] are hard to define. For me, style relates to self-expression. There's a world of products out there, but the ones a person owns define their taste and their personal style. I like making objects or putting a twist on the objects; it expresses something closer to your personality. My own style is very personal. It’s minimal but still opulent. It's definitely eclectic. It’s somewhere in between.
He wants his designs to still be usable.
The DNA of mine is different, and that's in the overall ethos of Off-White. I learned about fashion because I have an interactive approach. For a design to be modern, they have to see something useful in it—that it’s not precious. Clothes are what you make of them; I only deliver them half done. The same goes for the champagne bottle, where it says "DO NOT DROP." I wanted to treat the bottle like it was an art object. That's sort of my narrative.
He built his dream job.
My career is made up. All of these projects that span different categories, that was the goal is set for myself early on trying to achieve. I’m doing exactly what I want to do.
This story originally appeared on Esquire.com. Minor edits have been made by the Esquiremag.ph editors.
