The Royal College of Art and The Virgil Abloh Foundation announce the launch of this year’s edition of the RCA Virgil Abloh Scholarship. A full scholarship, including maintenance support, is awarded to extraordinarily talented but financially restricted Black British students from programmes in the School of Design.
Virgil Abloh, who passed away in 2021, was an American fashion designer, artist, architect, engineer, creative director, DJ and entrepreneur. He was the artistic director of Louis Vuitton’s menswear collection, the first African American to hold this position. He is also the Founder of Milan-based fashion house Off-White, and Alaska Alaska, his London studio staffed by young, multi-disciplinary creators, handpicked by Virgil himself.
Having joined as an Honorary Visiting Professor in 2020, Virgil held a close relationship with the RCA. He embodied the RCA’s spirit of collaboration and ingenuity, and hoped to enable students from across the College to benefit from his wealth of experience as a leading figure in international fashion and design. In the short time he was associated with the College, he made a significant impact on the RCA community. This scholarship aims to recognise Virgil’s support for education, his career-long ethos of using his practice to create social change and his position as a renowned champion for equality of opportunity across the creative industries.
The prestigious annual scholarship applies to all areas of the RCA School of Design postgraduate study including Fashion, Textiles, Design Products, Service Design and Intelligent Mobility among other innovative courses.
This scholarship embodies Virgil and our family’s longstanding mission to open doors, break barriers and increase access for young people, and the foundation’s commitment to build a more equitable and inclusive industry for diverse youth. The RCA is a place to grow as an artist and a thinker and we are pleased to continue our partnership supporting the next generation of Black artists and designers.
Shannon Abloh, Founder and Board President, Virgil Abloh Foundation
Last year’s Virgil Abloh Scholarship was awarded to Oghenerume Egbeniyoko, who continues to be supported by the initiative as he enters his second year of study on the RCA’s MA/MSc Innovation Design Engineering programme. The RCA and Virgil Abloh Foundation are proud to announce that MA Textiles student Tyreis Holder has been awarded the scholarship for 2024, beginning from the next academic year.
Virgil Abloh is a creative visionary, who empowered and inspired a generation of Black youth to embrace the limitless potential of their creativity and where it can take you. Being awarded this scholarship is a real honour, I feel truly blessed to have the opportunity to further refine my art practice by pushing the boundaries of my creativity, to honour my Caribbean heritage and textiles roots, and contribute to the community with recognition from the Virgil Abloh Foundation.
Tyreis Holder, Virgil Abloh Scholar 2024 and RCA MA Textiles student
We are honoured to receive the support of the Virgil Abloh Foundation in offering this generous scholarship, which enables talented Black artists and designers to study at the RCA. Ensuring that the great creative talent emerging from the College is more representative of our society will enhance the resilience, dynamism and impact of our culture and our creative industries for the future.
Professor Christoph Lindner, President & Vice-Chancellor of the Royal College of Art
@royalcollegeofart / @virgilabloh
