Has Virgil Abloh registered the trademark of his own name? A designer's name is always their most valuable asset

A few days ago, Virgil Abloh and Mercedes-Benz announced the renewal of their collaboration for the production of a new show car. The collaboration featured a double logo: that of Mercedes-Maybach on the one hand and the name of Abloh himself on the other – which was accompanied by a wording "TM" that made many suspect that the Rockford designer had registered a trademark of his own name. The idea may not be entirely airborne: there have been many designers who, in the past, have used their name as a trademark of a brand ending up losing the rights to it after selling it – for a designer-star like Abloh to keep his name, even registering it, means preserving the ownership of his signature and his work. Especially now that LVMH has acquired a majority stake in 60% of Off-White™, registering the trademark of its name provides Abloh with a way out that is always ready. Here's how, interviewed by Complex, lawyer Susan Scafidi explained the situation:

«It’s not his name, but a color and a concept. It’s his design theory embodied in a name. So if he ever did walk away from it, he can start over fresh […].If [he] were to walk away from Off-White tomorrow […] he could still walk away as Virgil Abloh and start a company in his own name or in some other name».

A phenomenon that will be confirmed once and for all when, next year, the debut of the eponymous brand of Phoebe Philo will take place, which is surrounded by incredible hype thanks to the cult that surrounds the English designer. The name of all these designers is, in short, bankable, it has an intrisecous value only of its own – their intelligence, and that of all future great designers, will be to protect this asset with all the weapons at their disposal.