Another awards show, another misstep.
During the In Memoriam tribute of the 2022 Grammys dedicated to the artists lost in the past year, Louis Vuitton artistic director and Off-White CEO Virgil Abloh—who died of cancer in 2021 at age 41—was labeled a "Hip Hop Fashion Designer." Backlash from viewers quickly followed on Twitter.
"Virgil Abloh was the damn artistic director of Louis Vuitton menswear and founded a full-on fashion house in Milan," the Watching the Throne podcast posted. "I get them trying to tie him to music in some way to 'explain' the inclusion to clueless people. But respect is more important than catering to a clueless person."
Although Abloh did work with hip hop artists such as Kanye West, critics of the "Hip Hop Fashion Designer" designation noted that it did not encapsulate his career. In addition to Louis Vuitton and Italian luxury brand Off-White, Abloh worked with Fendi and Nike, and created the Grammy-nominated packaging for Kanye's 2012 Watch the Throne album.
One person on Twitter questioned about the tribute, "HOW did that even get approved by multiple people????"
Another viewer credited the racial bias for the decision, saying, "the micro aggressive racism we see in fashion and entertainment today still baffles me."
They continued, "cos the thing is, we know someone probably queried that and thought is it necessary then somebody with sign off said yes. they could've said ‘iconic' or something or just ‘fashion designer'. somebody purposefully kept it in. none of these moments are accidents."
The author of The Men's Fashion Book, Jacob Gallagher, simply wrote on Twitter about the situation, "big yikes."
Perhaps the biggest undermining of his designation as a "hip-hop designer" came on the red carpet, where, as The Cut reported, K-pop sensation BTS arrived to the ceremony in Abloh's last Louis Vuitton designs.
E! News reached out to the Recording Academy but has not heard back.