The Second Annual Abloh Event Honors Virgil Abloh’s Dedication To The Skate Community
Updated: Dec 12, 2023
Last December in Miami, Virgil Abloh Securities and Nike honored Virgil Abloh’s enduring creative legacy with a four-day experience during Miami Art Week. This year, Virgil Abloh Securities and Architecture c/o Virgil Abloh™ followed last year’s breakthrough programming, leading up to the second annual Abloh Invitational in Miami on December 9, which brought together a diverse community of skaters, artists and cultural figures to further Virgil’s mission to support the culture of skate.
The 2023 Abloh Skateboarding Invitational built upon last year’s event by hosting freeriding sessions, a best trick competition, a free public skate session and more. An impressive roster of pros competed throughout the day including Eric Koston, Kareem Campbell, Louise Lopez, and more. The event was open to the public, inviting local and emerging skaters to compete with the pros. An open skate session, obstacle challenge, cash for tricks and professional skateboarding demo took place from 12 PM - 3 PM.
Image by Atiba Jefferson
A full day of the second annual Abloh Skateboarding Invitational (Sunday, December 10) was dedicated to community programming, called “FREE GAME”, including a series of workshops, clinics, tutorials, training sessions and moderated discussions for the next generation of skaters, led by leaders from the global design, art and skateboarding communities.
In addition to the invitational, programming kicked off on December 7th with the Atiba Jefferson: Skate Photography exhibition, curated by Architecture in collaboration with Jefferson and powered by OTW by Vans. The exhibition was the first-ever retrospective of Atiba Jefferson’s 25-year practice as one of skateboarding’s preeminent photographers and documentarians, and showcased more than 100 of Jefferson’s most iconic images, featuring legendary athletes such as Tony Hawk, Kareem Campbell, Eric Koston, and more, as well as rarely exhibited archival video works. Guests in attendance included Kid Cudi, Evan Mock, and more.
Atiba Jefferson: Photos courtesy of: Architecture c/o Virgil Abloh™