Virgil Abloh, fashion's highest profile Black designer and the creative mind behind Louis Vuitton's menswear collections, died on Sunday of cancer, Vuitton's owner LVMH said.

       Following are reactions to his death.

       ZADRIAN SMITH, STYLIST, IN AN INSTAGRAM POST:

       "Thank you for being such an incredible expander for all of us black boys who thought it would never be possible to exist at the luxury level of the fashion industry. I still remember your first show for @LouisVuitton and how much it shifted the culture, a culture for so many years that was void of colour."

       TRACEE ELLIS ROSS, ACTRESS, IN AN INSTAGRAM POST:

       "VIRGIL ABLOH. This is a devastating loss to culture and fashion. What an inspiration and a creative force."

       WILGLORY TANJONG, CAMEROONIAN DESIGNER OF ANIMA IRIS HANDBAGS, IN AN INSTAGRAM POST:

       "As a Black designer in overwhelmingly white luxury spaces, Virgil Abloh’s existence was so resounding that it paved the way for other Black designers like myself. And for that, I am forever grateful.

       "As I reflect on his passing, I think about how momentous of a life he lived

       -Virgil Abloh, the American-born son of Ghanaian immigrants who became fashion's highest profile Black designer and the creative mind behind Louis Vuitton's menswear collections, died on Sunday in Chicago at age 41, following a two-year battle with a rare form of cancer.

       Abloh, who also worked as a DJ and visual artist, had been men's artistic director for Vuitton, the world's biggest luxury brand, since March 2018. Abloh founded the Italian luxury streetwear label Off-White, in which LVMH took a 60% stake earlier this year, and was a former collaborator with rapper and fashion designer Ye, formerly known as Kanye West.

       "Virgil was not only a genius designer, a visionary, he was also a man with a beautiful soul and great wisdom," Bernard Arnault, the billionaire boss of Luis Vuitton's owner, French fashion conglomerate LVMH (LVMH.PA), said in a statement Sunday.

       Born in 1980 near Chicago, Abloh and his sister were raised in Rockford, Illinois. According to a 2018 Vogue magazine profile, his mother Eunice Abloh, a seamstress, taught him the basics of the craft at a young age

       .- Reuters