On the power of a simple conversation:

"The essence of culture exists in conversing. I was born in Rockford Illinois outside of Chicago, and everything that I loved was coming out of these major cities, from these major people, and I thought there must have been something that I was missing. As I’ve gotten older I’ve just realised you’re ability to have a conversation is the only thing standing in the way of anything you want to do."

On his new exhibition, "Figures of Speech" at Museum of Contemporary Art at Chicago:

"It serves two purposes - on one hand it’s a retrospective of the work I have done. I’ve been doing this work for 15 years – most people know of it since some Nike shoes in the last three years, or one year since Louis Vuttion, but in actuality it has been 15 years."

"So the museum exhibit, instead of showcasing my passion for collaborating, is sort of cross-pollinating. I want a young kid who is 17 to know who these greats are, as well as I want a young kid who is coming up to be able to make something that is the new Haçienda."

On the importance of context:

"When I started design and looking at the tall mountain that all my idols were living on, and how I could contribute, it was the moment I realised that the greats with their talent made their own context... That was the quintessential moment that allowed me to think free, to design across boundaries, and actually focus on what I had control over with the context.”

On growing up in Chicago, 'the spiritual home of the DJ':

"Chicago is the backdrop. I was born in 1980’s, so I missed a golden era, so to speak, but it’s in the air, it’s in the water. On the radio they would have an hour throwback of classic house tunes, so I knew them just because [it] was in the atmosphere."

"As I got older and into DJing, of course, you go to the record store. Gramophone Records in Chicago was my hometown spot, but you see different sections and different genres and you couldn’t help but pick out records. For me it was being about being a proper DJ, which is mixing different genres and presenting music in different contexts."

- Listen back to Virgil Abloh's co-host with Benji B