BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR 2025: Washington Post New Yorker Elle 'Captivating emotional and
illuminating' Tom Ford 'Thoughtful intelligent honest and masterfully crafted' Marc Jacobs
'A thrilling journey into the mind of a genius.' Edward Enninful 'A must-read' Elaine
Welteroth bestselling author of More Than Enough -- From Pulitzer Prize-winning culture
critic Robin Givhan comes a groundbreaking chronicle of the legacy of Virgil Abloh whose
iconic rise to the top of the fashion industry transformed our ideas about the connection
between who we are and what we wear In 2018 shockwaves were sent around the fashion industry
when Virgil Abloh was appointed the head of menswear for Louis Vuitton. Despite no formal
training in pattern-making or tailoring Abloh had become the first Black designer to serve as
artistic director in the brand's 164-year history. Make It Ours tells the story of how that
moment came to be and how Abloh came to symbolise and embody the industry's way forward. Using
Abloh's surprising path to the top of the luxury establishment Givhan unfolds the larger story
of how the cloistered exclusive fashion world faced a revolution from below in the form of
streetwear and designers unafraid to storm the gate and how a simple t-shirt came to hold as
much cultural power as a haute couture gown. With unparalleled access to Abloh's family
friends collaborators and contemporaries and featuring a cast of fascinating characters
ranging from groundbreaking Black designers like Ozwald Boateng to Abloh's mercurial but
critical employer and mentor Kanye West Givhan weaves a spellbinding tale of a young man's
rise amidst a cultural moment that would upend a century's worth of ideas about luxury and
taste. This is at once a remarkable biography of a singular creative force and a powerful
meditation on fashion and race taste and exclusivity genius and luxury.
