Louis Vuitton Artistic Director and founder of Off-White, Virgil Abloh, has died from cancer aged 41. Revealing the news, the French fashion house's parent company LVMH described Abloh as a "genius" and a "visionary". The US designer came to prominence as Kanye West's creative director but later made history as the first African-American to lead Louis Vuitton.

A statement on his Instagram page described him as a "fiercely devoted father, husband, son, brother, and friend". Virgil Abloh is survived by his wife Shannon and their two children. 

He was diagnosed with cardiac angiosarcoma, a rare, aggressive form of cancer, in 2019 but decided to not make the diagnosis public.

LVMH chief executive Bernard Arnault said: "Virgil was not only a genius designer, a visionary, he was also a man with a beautiful soul and great wisdom.

"The LVMH family joins me in this moment of great sorrow, and we are all thinking of his loved ones after the passing of their husband, their father, their brother or their friend."