The Shirt Off His Back

Five years after his untimely death, famed fashion designer Virgil Abloh ’03 found one more way to give back to his alma mater. His foundation sold prints of his UW-themed T-shirt designs at auction, with the proceeds going to support scholarships.

Throughout his career, Abloh frequently credited his time at the university with shaping the systems-thinking and intellectual curiosity that informed his work across fashion, architecture, music, art, and design. Abloh transformed contemporary culture through those efforts and his eventual role as artistic director of menswear at Louis Vuitton.

In 2015, the Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association (WFAA) asked Abloh to design a special edition of its Red Shirt, a T-shirt that releases a new design each year as a fundraiser for scholarships. Abloh created a series of designs, and when art professor Faisal Abdu’Allah heard that Abloh was visiting campus in 2015, he quickly put together a plan to turn the designs into screen prints. He worked with then-student Aaron David ’16 to make sample prints to show to Abloh.

“We made two or three, and then we showed them to him,” says Abdu’Allah. “He said they look incredible: ‘Let’s run the edition!’ We made a full run, and then he came in and signed every print.”

Created as part of Abloh’s celebrated #OffWisconsin collaboration with WFAA, the works on paper reinterpret the university’s iconic Red Shirt through Abloh’s distinctive visual language.

The prints then went into storage for more than a decade. Abloh’s career flourished: he made designs for Nike and IKEA, and his Off-White label saw mainstream success.

He used his increasing fame to draw attention to issues that he saw as important, including raising more than $1 million for scholarships.

But in 2019, Abloh was diagnosed with cardiac angiosarcoma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer. He died in 2021 at 41.

In 2026, the Virgil Abloh Foundation offered to have the T-shirt prints auctioned by Sotheby’s USA. The auction, held in July, raised a further $35,840 for UW–Madison scholarships.

Reflecting on Abloh’s contributions, Abdu’Allah said: “Virgil Abloh’s presence and collaboration with our students offered them a rare opportunity to engage directly with a visionary Badger who redefined what it means to be an artist, entrepreneur, and pioneer in today’s interconnected creative landscape. His legacy continues to inspire emerging artists and designers to rethink the relationship between creativity, commerce, and social impact.”