Virgil Abloh Retrospective Opens at Grand Palais

“Virgil Abloh: The Codes” opened at the Grand Palais in Paris on what would have been the designer’s 45th birthday, presenting more than 1,000 objects from his work across fashion, industrial design and art. Organized by the Virgil Abloh Archive with Nike and curated by Mahfuz and Chloe Sultan, the exhibition traces Abloh’s multidisciplinary process through personal items, prototypes and collaborations with brands such as IKEA and Louis Vuitton. The show includes roughly 200 pairs of sneakers and a recreated Colette storefront, and it mixes traditional museology with commercial ephemera, talks, workshops and DJ sets. Spanning approximately 13,350 square feet, the exhibition reflects Abloh’s habit of archiving sketches, prototypes and ephemera to make his creative process transparent and accessible to broad audiences.