There is a consensus among those in his orbit that Virgil Abloh is one of the shrewdest newcomers in the fashion business. His slickly street-centric men’s and women’s label, Off-White, which launched for Spring/Summer 2013, has seen significant global growth in three years. He cut the ribbon on his latest outpost, in Tokyo’s upscale Aoyama neighbourhood, last week; luxury retailers like Net-A-Porter and Matches Fashion sell it; editors photograph it; trend-conscious boys and girls in Soho and Shibuya collect it; and Kylie Jenner is a fan.

Abloh is a cultural arbiter of all things “it”, street, hype, celebrity, international and digital. Even Kanye West, with whom Abloh has worked for 14 years as an unofficially titled consultant and collaborator, weighs in on the designer’s prowess: “Virgil is one of the smartest people I know,” says the performer and Yeezy designer via email.

“I see myself as a modern creative director,” says the Rockford, Illinois-born Abloh, 36, on the phone from Asia. He’s a designer, yes, but he’s also a DJ, consultant (for West), architect and engineer by training, marketer, and now furniture innovator (Abloh is introducing an Off-White home capsule, with pieces inspired by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe). “My entire creative career has been about working in a collaborative space,” he says. But Off-White remains his core duty. “I use Off-White as my résumé. It’s sort of a case study to experiment and see ideas though — and I think that makes it more relevant.”