Kanye West has revealed he was offered the artistic director position at Louis Vuitton before his late friend and collaborator Virgil Abloh took the job in early 2018.
Ye has often hinted at having the chance to take an exclusive head designer role at a major European fashion house, but for various reasons, the position never materialized.
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During his recent interview with France’s Clique TV, Kanye West opened up about the contradicting feelings of seeing Virgil take the position with Louis Vuitton as he was happy for his friend but also a bit jealous of the opportunity he was walking into.
“Virgil goes to be the men’s designer at Louis Vuitton and I go and we have this moment of this hug [in 2018],” he recalled. “No one knows that I have been offered the deal by Bernard Arnault. No one knows the deal was pulled — I used to call myself the Louis Vuitton Don.
“So when Virgil was at the house, there was a lot of pain and jealousy that I was dealing and also I would sometimes get mad because I would feel certain designs could be better.”
Virgil Abloh tragically passed away from a rare form of cancer in November 2021. In one of his October social media outbursts, Kanye West blamed LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault for the Off-White designer’s death.
“SPANK MY HAND WITH THE RULER(S) I’LL GO SIT IN THE ‘PRINCIPAL(S)’ OFFICE CAN’T WE TALK ABOUT MORE IMPORTANT THINGS LIKE HOW LATE THE SHOW WAS OR HOW BERNARD ARNAULT KILLED MY BEST FRIEND,” he wrote. “EVERYONE’S GOT A RIGHT TO AN OPINION RIGHT THERE’S MINE.”
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Designer Tremaine Emory then blasted Ye in a scathing Instagram post for his alleged deteriorating friendship with Virgil during his final months.
“I gotta draw the line at you using Virgil’s death in your ‘ye’ is the victim campaign in front your sycophant peanut algorithm gallery,” the Denim Tears designer began.
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He went on to call out Yeezy for not being invited to Virgil Abloh’s funeral and trashing his designs behind his back.
“Your best friend Virgil, NEGRO PLEASE,” Emory said, “this time last year you said Virgil’s designs are a disgrace to the black community infont of all your employees at yeezy -ASK LUCETTE HOLLAND…I GOT ALL THE “RECEIPTS” ( don’t let me get into the things you said about v after his death).
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“Ye tell the ppl why you didn’t get invited to Virgil’s actual funeral the one before the public one at the museum. You knew Virgil had terminal cancer and you rode on him in group chats, at yeezy, interviews…YOU ARE SO BROKEN. KEEP VIRGIL NAME OUT YOUR MOUTH…KEEP @gabriellak_j NAME OUT YOUR MOUTH…Your not a victim your just an insecure narcissist that’s dying for validation from the fashion world…take care…at least we’ll always have ‘UGANDA.'”
