In a way, thereâs a profound continuity in Selvendranâs new job, where heâs still helping make Ablohâs often lofty concepts real. In the archive, set to be located in Chicago, Selvendran is quite literally tracking down his old bossâs digital correspondence and cataloguing it alongside physical objects. Eventually, the idea is that the Virgil Abloh archive will be an educational space where visitors can examine exactly how his sneaker designs and art projects came together by digging into his DMs.
âMost people have iPhones,â Selvendran says, echoing Ablohâs legacy, which ultimately was to inspire creativity in other people: âIf you have a tool like that, you can actually produce any idea you have in your mind. Itâs about understanding how to go about it.â
GQ: What was your average day as Virgilâs assistant like? Given everything that he was working on, was there such a thing as an average day?
Athiththan âAthiâ Selvendran: It was different every single day. I would be engaging with so many people at once trying to ensure that anything that V had on his mindâan idea thought or anything of that natureâcame to life. I was only in my early 20s and I was just immersed in the work. I got the responsibility to manage big projects with big brands and big names. A huge component was connecting with other creatives and processing the concepts that would go back and forth on WhatsApp, iMessage, email, just being on top of everything.
As the years progressed, so did the output. And our team was always lean. So it wasn’t a job for me, it was my life. But I can say that I could be awake for 24 hours and I would never feel like I missed sleep. I was just excited and happy to make things come to life. There was one seminal moment in 2018 when we were working on a gallery exhibition in Tokyo, and we spontaneously flew to Tokyo and spent three days straight putting together the show from scratch.
By the time you became his chief of staff, Virgil was creative director of Louis Vuitton menâs, the creative director of Off-White, designing countless collaborations, DJing around the world, creating art exhibitions, and lecturing about architectureâand he was personally setting up these plays on WhatsApp, Facetime, and over DM. Iâve always been curious how you kept up with everything.
We were just on our phones 24/7. Any engagement that he had with someone, I would need to facilitate it. To be honest with you, I loved working in the background. I never wanted to be upfront, so I was always right behind him. For many years people didnât really know what I looked like. For me, the work was most important.
You have a reputation in fashion and probably beyond for having the best email presence. Itâs very joyful to receive an email from you.
Thatâs from V, too. V treated everyone with respect. What’s so powerful about him was the humanity factor. He gave everyone the time of day. Anyone who came up to him with a question, he would spend the time. It wasn’t forced or conceived or anything, it was just how he interacted with and treated people. And that’s why our whole ecosystem and the community that we built, why everyone is so supportive of each other. Everyone was happy to be with each other in every single moment that we had. We were always together as a collective to accomplish whatever the output was.
Youâre now in a more public position as COO of Virgil Abloh Securities, and youâve also been appointed CCO of the Virgil Abloh Foundation. What does your new job mean for you, and for the initiatives that the organizations oversee?
Shannon has built the Virgil Abloh Foundation to support Vâs vision of producing a world where anyone who is creative and has an idea should be able to share their message. And Iâve invested my life proceeding in these roles or titles or whatever you may call them. Itâs something that Iâm going to do, I believe, for the rest of my life. Iâm invested in Virgil Abloh’s vision, Shannon Abloh’s vision, and the foundationâs vision. Ultimately weâre trying to ensure that we’re touching the spirits of so many people in the world and allowing them to become the people that they’re dreaming to become. I think every single young person has a dream. They seek that dream and I believe that we can help them be a doer of their dream.
Tell me a bit more about how you plan on making that happen. What are you working on right now that we’ll be seeing soon?
With the Abloh Air pilot program, weâre producing workshops, panels, and conversations, creating opportunities for aspiring creatives from underrepresented communities to be a part of processes with people who are creatively resonant, people who have done the journey themselves. It’s giving them support that’s tangible. We all know the process of applying for schools, right? These kids might be competing for art or design school against contemporaries who already have the experiences and portfolios built to get through the door. So we’re immersing them in the work and getting our community collaborators involved in the dialogue. And Virgil had so many friends and collaborators who are willing to come and help and be a part of the conversation.