Virgil Abloh, JW Anderson and the edgy streetwear designers redefining mainstream fashion – after scoring creative director gigs at top LVMH luxury brands

The world of luxury fashion isn’t an easy one to break into, so it goes without saying that to reach the top at a prestigious fashion house takes something special. However in recent years there’s been a welcome change of pace – and diversity – at many brands, with a new wave of savvy trend-setting designers who first proved their fashion chops on the street before being snapped up to far bigger gigs at luxury houses, bringing their edge and influence among millennials and Gen Z with them.

Here are four of our favourite creatives who went from cult following to major industry player in record time – all now working with mainstream brands under the all-powerful LVMH staple.

For US designer Virgil Abloh, self-launched streetwear brand Off-White marked the turning point of his career. His unconventional designs – adding visible tags and quotation marks to his clothing and trainers, for starters – created plenty of hype. And after he launched a collaboration with Nike, his career went from strength to strength.

So it wasn’t the hugest surprise that a mere four years after launching Off-White, Abloh was appointed to design Louis Vuitton’s menswear line and made history as the first African-American designer to take the influential men’s artistic director position. For his debut spring/summer 2019 collection for the fashion house, Abloh opted for a youthful collection in a riot of colours that was heavily influenced by street culture. Famous fans of his work now include A$AP Rocky, Kanye West and Rihanna.