virgil abloh's legacy comes alive at grand palais exhibition in paris

Virgil Abloh’s Multidisciplinary Legacy Comes to Life in Paris

Virgil Abloh: The Codes, the first major European exhibition devoted to the late designer, is on view at the Grand Palais in Paris, running through October 10th, 2025. Organized by the Virgil Abloh Archive™ in partnership with Nike, the exhibition draws from over 20,000 objects spanning nearly two decades of Abloh’s career, offering an expansive view of the creative ‘codes’ that guided his work across fashion, footwear, architecture, music, and advertising.

One part of the exhibition reactivates the Paris concept store colette, co-founded by Sarah Andelman. Recreated within the Grand Palais as a hybrid installation and functioning shop, the space offers limited-edition objects shaped in collaboration with Abloh, including a reissue of his work with Braun and a French-language edition of Abloh-isms. The installation evokes the early years when Colette was central to Abloh’s experimentation, a platform where his ideas first encountered a wider audience.

Shannon Abloh, who leads the Virgil Abloh Archive™ and Foundation, reflected on the exhibition’s significance, noting that it marks the archive’s first public-facing initiative. ‘I’m proud that Codes marks our first public facing initiative. I want to express my deep gratitude to everyone who passionately brought this ambitious idea to life with dedication and love,’ she shares.

part of the exhibition reactivates colette | all images by Thomas Razzano/BFA.com, unless stated otherwise

the grand palais exhibition expands the archive

Curated by Chloe and Mahfuz Sultan, Virgil Abloh: The Codes expands on an earlier edition presented in 2022, this time with a broader view of Abloh’s practice. Alongside well-known projects, the show presents prototypes, sketches, and items from his own collections and library. The archive seeks to make Abloh’s methods available for study and reuse, reflecting his belief in openness and collective learning by focusing on process as much as on outcomes.

The exhibition focuses on process as much as outcomes, reflecting Abloh’s belief in openness and collective learning. The accompanying World’s Fair draws inspiration from the 20th-century World’s Fairs in Chicago and Paris, cities that defined Abloh’s creative trajectory, and offers a multidisciplinary celebration of culture, ideas, and innovation. Over ten days, Paris becomes a stage for archive talks, workshops, film screenings, and live DJ sets, bringing together collaborators from Nike, Apple, IKEA, Colette, Mercedes-Benz, Vitra, Braun, and many more.

The project is supported by the Virgil Abloh Foundation and accompanied by a series of public programs, from workshops and dialogues to performances and screenings. For the late designer’s wife, Shannon Abloh, who leads the archive and foundation, the exhibition is both a celebration and a teaching tool, a way of ensuring that Virgil Abloh’s ideas remain accessible to future generations. ‘Codes is just the beginning of our work to share Virgil’s legacy with the creative community and the broader world,’ Shannon Abloh notes.

Virgil Abloh: The Codes is the first major European exhibition devoted to the late designer