Virgil Abloh's Widow Reflects On Their Private Relationship

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#QatarCreates Public Talk With Virgil Abloh, Samir Bantal, And Rosanne Somerson
DOHA, QATAR - NOVEMBER 04: Virgil Abloh (pictured), Samir Bantal, Director of AMO, the research and design branch of OMA, and Rosanne Somerson, President Emerita of Rhode Island School of Design and Principal of Somerson Studio, participate in a public talk during #QatarCreates on November 4, 2021 at the National Museum of Qatar in Doha. #QatarCreates is a cultural celebration connecting the fields of art, fashion, and design through a diverse program of exhibitions, awards, public talks, and special events, all taking place in the heart of Doha. (Photo by Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Qatar Museums )
Virgil Abloh's widow, Shannon, has opened up about Virgil's battle with cancer, their private life together, and more.

Virgil Abloh's widow, Shannon, sat down for a rare interview with The New York Times published on Tuesday. In the piece, Shannon discusses Virgil's battle with cancer, their private life together, and more.

"Even though we knew the challenge of what he was fighting, it went a lot faster than we thought it was going to," Shannon told the publication.

PARIS, FRANCE - JUNE 20: Virgil Abloh walks the runway during the Louis Vuitton Menswear Spring Summer 2020 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on June 20, 2019 in Paris, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

Virgil died in 2021 of cardiac angiosarcoma, a rare heart cancer. He never announced his diagnosis prior to his death.

"We never had the 'this is the legacy that I want you to work toward' discussion," Shannon said. "But because I was with him for so long, I knew every inch of him. I knew every inch of his brain."

Shannon also discussed how private the two were as a couple.

"It was just the way our relationship worked," she told the Times. "We knew we wanted to build this close family, and we needed someone to be the stable partner. I was happy to do that."

She added that the COVID-19 pandemic allowed the family to spend much more time together than they otherwise would have been able to prior to Virgil's passing.

"I know that Covid was an incredibly hard thing for so many people," Shannon said. "But for us it was an amazing time because Virgil didn't have to make excuses to get out of shows or DJ-ing."

Shannon added: "No one could go anywhere. So we were able to have those last two and a half years."

Prior to his death, Virgil worked as the director of Louis Vuitton's menswear collection as well as the chief executive officer of the Off-White label.

[Via]

About The Author
Cole Blake is a current staff writer at HotNewHipHop based out of New York City. He began writing for the site as an intern back in 2018 while finishing his B.A. in Journalism at St. John’s University. In the time since, he’s covered a number of breaking stories for HNHH. These include the ongoing YSL RICO trial, the allegations surrounding Diddy, and much more. His work also extends outside of hip-hop, having written extensively about a myriad of topics including politics, sports, and pop culture. He’s attended several music festivals to provide coverage for the site as well, such as Rolling Loud and Governors Ball.
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