Virgil Abloh announced Thursday that he's raised $1 million to support scholarships for Black students through his "Post-Modern" Scholarship Fund, which marks a partnership with the Fashion Scholarship Fund.
Abloh's initiative is dubbed by the prolific designer and noted multi-hyphenate as "Post-Modern," per a press release, as a way of nodding to the fact that students will receive both funds and access to "vital career support services and mentoring." Money from Farfetch, Evian, Louis Vuitton, New Guards Group, Abloh himself, and more has been raised so far. Moving forward, Abloh is expected to announce additional partners.
"I've always been passionate about giving the next generation of students the same foundation for success that was given to me," Abloh said in a statement. "That's why I'm excited to launch this Fund in partnership with the FSF, which has an outstanding track record of helping college students achieve successful careers."
Abloh's goal, per a press release, is as follows:
The Abloh Fund's mission is to foster equity and inclusion within the fashion industry by providing scholarships to students of academic promise of Black, African-American, or African descent.
Abloh added that he's grateful for the donations thus far from his assembled team of partners, "which are just a part of the long-term commitments I am working on with them to create greater opportunities for Black people inside and outside of their organizations."
In a Zoom-conducted interview with British Vogue, Abloh elaborated further on the initiative, as well as spoke on his new LV collection.
"In the tone of 2020, I come under the microscope a lot," he said. "That same microscope doesn’t focus on others. But that's the way the chips have landed." Addressing that microscopic status in more detail, Abloh argued that his voice on issues of racial justice have always been present in his work for those "who look" for it.
"I'm not gonna go back to business as usual and pretend that the awakenings that we’re still in the midst of aren't happening," he told Olivia Singer. "I didn't take it lightly before but I think that, because my voice wasn't distinct and loud enough, it didn't resonate." Catch the full piece here.
An aesthetic-forward site has also been launched with additional information on the "Post-Modern" Scholarship Fund, including award details and a pie chart breaking down the different arms of advocacy in which Abloh participates.
Earlier this month, Abloh was among the creatives to contribute rare pieces toward the Design Yard Sale auction. All proceeds go to organizations actively working toward the dismantling of racism.