It's Your Duty to Send the Elevator Back Down

Virgil Abloh

Dec 06, 2021

Kayla Kim

Knowledge Management and Learning Analyst, United Nations Development Programme

It's Your Duty to Send the Elevator Back Down

Liked by Susanna Kempe

Virgil Abloh: “When you’re lucky enough to get a ride to the penthouse, it’s your duty to send the elevator back down.” — **Virgil Abloh:** *“When you’re lucky enough to get a ride to the penthouse, it’s your duty to send the elevator back down.”*
_{Image credit: Myles Kalus Anak Jihem via Wikimedia Commons}

Virgil Abloh (1980-2021) was an American fashion designer and entrepreneur.

He entered the fashion world in 2009 with an internship at Fendi alongside Kanye West, with whom he collaborated before launching his own luxury fashion brand. He founded the high-end label Off-White in 2013 and in 2018 became the creative director of Louis Vuitton menswear. He was the first African-American artistic director at a French luxury fashion house and was considered the most powerful black man in fashion.

He passed away in late November this year due to a rare form of cancer and is remembered as a man dedicated to his craft and to his mission to give others opportunities and promote equality in art and design.

Learn More.

⚔️ Wole Soyinka: "I don’t know any other way to live but to wake up every day armed with my convictions, not yielding them to the threat of danger and to the power and force of people who might despise me."

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📖 Laverne Cox: "There are lessons in everything. The bad, the good. Our job is to listen, and to continue to learn, so that we get better."

🚂 Madam C.J. Walker: "I got my start by giving myself a start."

Kayla Kim (She/Her)

Knowledge Management and Learning Analyst, United Nations Development Programme

Hello! I was Laidlaw scholar in 2019, and I studied national, regional, and local identity in northern Tajikistan through the lens of women's fashion. For a year after graduating, I worked for the UN Mine Action Service which removes landmines from conflict and post-conflict regions. I then worked for the Laidlaw Foundation 2021-22 and completed a Master's Degree in Anthropology and Development Management at the London School of Economics. Now I'm working with the UN on innovative finance for biodiversity conservation, focusing on marine ecosystems.

Please feel free to reach out on the network, on LinkedIn, or by email. I'm always happy to meet new people and chat.

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Susanna Kempe

almost 4 years ago

I am struck by the fact that for all his extraordinary talent he was incredibly humble and deeply curious. In every way he demonstrated the values that we espouse at Laidlaw. His death is such a tragic loss. We can honour him by being equally diligent in providing opportunities for others and always "sending the elevator back down".