Virgil Abloh will only sell his latest jewellery collection to those he feels deserve it.
The 39-year-old fashion designer has created a line of diamond-encrusted bling themed around office supplies in collaboration with Jacob Co, and has said he won’t be putting the pieces on the market for just anyone to buy.
Instead, Virgil is making those interested in the pieces – which include money clips, bracelets, earrings, and necklaces – fill in a ”short questionnaire”, with the designer himself choosing the successful applicants who then get to buy from the collection.
He said: ”People will fill out a short questionnaire, submit their request, and I decide where these pieces will go on a case-by-case basis. I want it to feel very old school. It’s bespoke.”
But Virgil insists his decision has not been made so he can sift through his less stylish followers.
He added: ”I wouldn’t be that blunt! The transaction becomes very particular so the consumer can value it as if they’re owning a special piece from my studio rather than, say, a pair of trainers.
The Off-White founder believes his new line – which is made using 18-karat gold paperclips – is ”an object of art” rather than fashion, and says the collection is one of the ”purest forms of expression” he’s ever created.
Speaking to British Vogue, he explained: ”This collection is one of the purest forms of my expression that I’ve come up with.
”A paperclip is less than five cents. Done in diamonds it obviously exudes a different value, but it offers the same intrigue to the brain when you look at it. I love the conundrum. I love that your brain can ping-pong between value based on form and materiality. That’s why I call it an object of art rather than a piece of fashion.”
Virgil’s new collection launched this week, and prices range from $3,000 to $72,000.
Article source: http://www.contactmusic.com/news/virgil-abloh-will-decide-who-he-wants-to-sell-his-jewellery-to_6305422