Bridging the Gap Between Creativity and Money: Why Virgil Abloh's Free Game Is Just What We Needed
- Abbey Villasis
- 20 hours ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 3 hours ago
“As part of my long-standing initiative to see design, art, and culture more inclusive to young black designers and those coming from non-traditional backgrounds, I wanted to assist in providing the means for them to advance on the road to ownership of their ideas and brands. I am launching this organic platform for widespread access to information and mentorship. The exact notions and tools that I used to formulate my career are open to all…”
Virgil Abloh
Before the untimely death of Luxury Streetwear designer Virgil Abloh in late 2021, founder of Off-White, he dedicated himself to a project that aims to provide a free business education for all through an instructive website that promotes inclusivity in fashion, called Free Game. Abloh’s project flips the fashion industry on its head, challenging its reputation as one of the most gatekept and exclusionary fields out there. Even in his death, his legacy and mission to destroy discriminatory boundaries in art remain. Because of this initiative, Abloh is still helping to open up the industry to more “non-traditional” artists, as he has quietly distributed a guide to help make dreams come true for people who previously never had the chance to dream.
Does this, then, mean the fashion industry is becoming more inclusive? The short answer is yes, but, to reclaim an old snarky metaphor once used by Miranda Priestly, 'at a glacial pace.' According to the website’s PDF version (below), Free Game was last updated four years ago. Meaning if it has been live for at least four years, it raises some questions about whether Abloh’s legacy has been properly maintained: why has his "de-gatekeeping" project managed to stay - relatively - unheard of despite its mission to educate anyone in search of a cost-free business education? It’s contradictory, yet not entirely unusual in fashion and other spaces that feed from exclusionary practices. The positive side is that Abloh’s project has really picked up lately and is finally gaining the attention it rightly deserves. What I believe is that Free Game isn't a platform set on divulging the secrets of Abloh’s creativity. Rather, it’s a neatly packaged and engaging way of introducing crucial business and design concepts - with a hint of motivational speeches along the way - to artists who desire to create their own fashion brand from scratch.
In art, it has long been typical that artists struggle to profit from their work for a) moral reasons, b) gaps in business knowledge, or c) both. The real favour that Abloh has done is to begin bridging the gap between creativity and money. Through Free Game, he has compiled an open-access guide on business, law, design, and more as starting points for anyone to use. By comparison, Ivey Business School - one of Canada’s leading business institutions - charges CAD $25,200 for domestic students and $70,040 for international students simply for one year of its Honours Business Administration programme, a combined business and discipline-of-choice degree, before additional expenses. It is widely understood and not uncommon for students in Canada, and in many other parts of the world, to pay these unreasonable fees for their degrees, which is unfair considering the importance placed on having an education just to find a job - but that's a different conversation. Virgil Abloh believed in people and saw how simple it can be to teach others to start their own business, never underestimating the drive and savviness of our generation’s creatives. Through his own line, he had already paved the way for others; all that was left to do was set things in motion for them to follow in his footsteps.
Generally speaking, business tends to go against what it means to be an artist, and that is why we tend to find so much disparity when they intersect. In The Second Sex, Simone De Beauvoir captures well the essence of the artist. It is understood that most artists are not usually driven by money or power. Still, under capitalism, both business and art are forced to intersect and be productive in the interest of the creator if they plan on turning their work into a career; a career that in the past took on a dreary, minimalistic standard of living:
"There is a very great artist whom I knew well and whom I deeply admire that you surely are familiar with: his name is Giacometti. His manner of living was absolutely extraordinary. Even when he earned a lot of money, he was so indifferent to material contingencies that he lived in a sort of shack that leaked on rainy days; he would collect the water in bowls which themselves had holes, so water ran on the floor and he couldn’t have cared less. He had a tiny, uncomfortable studio where he would work all night long, sleeping whenever he felt like it: at five or six o’clock in the morning or at noon. He would toss on any old thing for clothes, wearing a string for a belt to hold up his pants, and his hands covered with plaster…" (de Beauvoir 1966)
Beauvoir’s anecdote may also explain the pattern of why successful people tend to acquire and surround themselves with art: money and art are opposite human needs. We need money to afford to live in society (a social construct), but art precedes us, bonds us, and is divinely inspired (e.g. nature). Therefore, due to the confines of our economy, money is more of a skill, and art is a privilege.
For a long time, the aspiration for most artists has not been simply to get by and deal with living uncomfortably. Today, there is a lot more money floating around than ever before, and there is a lot more opportunity, too. The aspiration in today’s world, which I think many artists would agree with, is to earn enough money to flourish and for art to become their occupation (the words “art” and “flourishing” both carrying different meanings depending on the individual). Free Game provides both the tools and the confidence to become the artists we so very desire, by opening pathways for anyone, regardless of origin, to find financial stability through their practice and fully realise their ambitions, ushering in a new era for fashion designers and other artists.
Free Game: https://free-game.virgilabloh.com/
Written and Edited by
Abbey Villasis, Co-Fashion Editor
