FUTURA
A Capsule Collaboration for Virgil Abloh: World’s Fair
Artist Management
Design
Virgil Abloh: World’s Fair is a multidisciplinary, city-wide celebration of Virgil’s legacy across fashion, design, and culture, opening on his birthday, September 30, 2025, in Paris — his second home and the city that inspired him most. The exhibition marks the first major European showcase devoted exclusively to Virgil’s work, exploring over two decades of his multidisciplinary practice through the lens of the 20,000-object Virgil Abloh Archive™️.
As part of the World’s Fair, the Archive™️ debuted a series of creative collaborations with Virgil’s friends and collaborators, focusing on the archetypal objects that defined his design practice. Recognizing the long-standing mutual respect and creative exchange between FUTURA and Virgil, FUTURA was invited to contribute to the inaugural series with a capsule collection of T-shirts. The T-shirt, arguably the archetypal object of Virgil’s work, was central to his creative process: he often began investigations for ideas and concepts with a simple tee, turning it into a canvas for experimentation and expression.
The project rolled out as part of a major cultural exhibition at Le Grand Palais, Paris, in partnership with Nike. The exhibition showcased Virgil’s influence across apparel, footwear, architecture, music, and advertising, positioning the T-shirt capsule as both a tribute and an extension of his design philosophy. FUTURA’s contribution translated his own abstract, kinetic art language into the medium of the tee, creating a tangible, wearable interpretation of Virgil’s vision.
The capsule was presented alongside the broader exhibition, offering visitors the opportunity to experience FUTURA’s interpretation in context with Virgil’s two-decade-long body of work. The collaboration was supported digitally with media content and storytelling that highlighted the creative dialogue between FUTURA and Virgil, emphasizing their shared history and mutual influence.
Cultural Impact
This collaboration amplified Virgil’s legacy while connecting audiences to FUTURA’s distinct artistic language. By contributing to the first series of the World’s Fair collection, FUTURA engaged visitors with a cross-disciplinary exploration of fashion and art, highlighting the T-shirt as a transformative object in both creative practices. The project demonstrated how Virgil’s philosophy — turning simple objects into tools of experimentation — could intersect with FUTURA’s kinetic abstraction, offering fans and collectors a direct encounter with both artists’ visions. The capsule elevated the T-shirt from a basic garment into a cultural artifact, bridging street culture, museum curation, and wearable art.
The exhibition and capsule launch successfully positioned the collaboration at the nexus of fashion, art, and design, reinforcing the significance of both FUTURA and Virgil Abloh within contemporary creative culture. The project generated excitement among collectors, museum-goers, and the global art community, creating a meaningful tribute that highlighted the ongoing influence of Virgil’s design philosophy and FUTURA’s interpretive creativity.
By translating FUTURA’s kinetic, abstract style into a tribute to Virgil Abloh’s iconic practice, the World’s Fair capsule bridged museum-scale exhibition, street culture, and wearable design. It celebrated experimentation, collaboration, and the ongoing dialogue between two visionary artists, providing a culturally resonant touchpoint for Paris and the broader global creative community.
