Abloh has regularly referred to German modernist architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, but he specifically referenced the moment upon entering S. R. Crown Hall at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago on his first day of class as "breathtaking." Coupled with an unnamed, discouraging professor proclaiming that no more than 3% of him and his classmates would go on to actually build buildings, he relayed this tale as a significant moment in his path to becoming a designer. That outdated way of thinking, to deflate the youth, is like Abloh’s own version of Kanye West’s “Everything I Am.” Already with the knowledge that he didn't necessarily want to build buildings helped make him everything he’s become and clearly serves as motivation today to not withhold his keys to success—"cheat codes" as he calls them—from the younger generation in attendance.

To borrow a phrase from DJ Khaled, Abloh calls his major keys "cheat codes." With mention of how much time we spend looking at memes, he says, “Irony is a tool for modern creativity.” In a time where memes are driving Rae Sremmurd’s “Black Beatles” and Migos’ “Bad and Boujee” to the top of the charts, this rings true. He goes on to explain, “Modern culture thrives off irony...Humor is an entry point for humanity. It’s essential in modern ideas in the creative space.” How else would, what he called, a made up DJ collective with friends, Been Trill, go on to sell more T-shirts than pieces with a more serious level of design?

While everyone is scrolling through ironic memes for inspo, he pointed out that the Internet is not enough on its own. He expressed the importance of going, traveling and seeing the culture in other places. As a designer he questions what he can do to add character. Abloh said he looks at a specific genre and adjusts it 3-5%, frequently in a somewhat elevated "trolling" way.

Emphasizing the importance of finding and listening to your own voice, Abloh expressed the importance of leveraging other creatives and taking on the responsibility of making the conversation more holistic, “It’s easy to make work that’s too intellectual.” The bottomline? Do not alienate yourself by being so far advanced.

However, if you are just that advanced, Abloh beat the point of loaded messages to death, in a good way. He discussed that while the word “WHITE” is often written across the shoulders of his wears sometimes it’s written in black or red. It is a word, but also a color. This is a deliberate choice to leave his work up for interpretation, using the example of Luka Sabbat wearing an OFF-WHITE crewneck that says “Woman” on it, pointing out how the coolness of fashion trends can remove prejudices.

To ensure, or encourage, students not to take the same route as him, he implored everyone to tap into their 17-year-old self for inspiration, reminding everyone the importance of considering what their unique taste was at such a pivotal age and building from there.

Over four years ago, Abloh released the video, “A Team With No Sport,” featuring Pyrex Vision clothing and the artist Jim Joe, popularly known for creating the cover art for Drake’s classic mixtape If You're Reading This It's Too Late. In his unconventional lecture, Abloh said Pyrex Vision was never meant to be a clothing line. He’d been creative directing Kanye West for 6 to 8 years at this point and the video was the first project he made 100% of the decisions himself.

The design itself came from the an old adage he would hear growing up, referencing how you either had to ball like Michael Jordan or sell drugs to make it out of the hood in Chicago. Similarly to his feelings reminiscing about Been Trill, Abloh laughed at the Pyrex branding and its lack of longevity, “There’s not much taste in that,” but expressed the creative need for him to create the clip and watch what it turned into.

As he was moving on from Pyrex Vision, Abloh knew he needed to refocus his energies. Initially setting out to make his own monogram, he quickly realized it's impossible to make one that doesn't immediately bring to mind brands like Louis Vuitton and Goyard. As he literally crossed out the Pyrex and 23 design, he recognized a repeating pattern everyone thought of, but nobody used. Furthering his desire to use things ready made, but viewed differently, he decided to use the diagonal stripes that can be seen in nearly every city intersection across the globe. This concept falls right in line with how Abloh operates, saying “I’m trying to have my signature be Helvetica.” He points out, even those that can’t or don’t buy the brand, but constantly tweet photos of their local stripes to him participate and offer a constant source of feedback for this brand.

McDonalds? They all look the same. Starbucks? They all look the same. Luxury stores? They all look the same. Abloh hammered home his point of dissatisfaction with the concept of run-of-the-mill commercial outlets. Nonetheless, the motivation the grows from doubt is real, and Abloh did eventually go on to build buildings despite his discouraging professor, specifically his two retail locations in Hong Kong and Tokyo, and his temporary, mind-blowing Milan showroom.

It was discussing these structures where we saw the architect turned designer’s wheels really turn. Bringing up the most important thing he took away from architecture classes was context, Abloh explained why a third of the store in Hong Kong feels like a jungle, while the rest of the store is used to juxtapose that, modeled after a quarry.

To ensure his stores would never fit into the uniform of corny consumerism, he went on to describe his Tokyo retail location as the making of a store that isn’t a store. The office-like space’s dressing rooms look like corporate bathrooms, while an actual stock exchange ticker surrounds the perimeter. A water cooler is even stocked with plastic cups that say, you guessed it, “Plastic Cup” on them. “There’s stuff you can steal,” he says, “Everyone steals them.”

And, finally, his showroom in Milan—emblazoned with the phrase, “BUY NOW, CRY LATER,” a message for all buyers upon entering—was a mirrored, almost translucent, rectangular structure, reminiscent of the building that started it all, S.R. Crown Hall. This one, he says, was “a way to define space that is OFF-WHITE” and meant to literally reflect the architecture of a city that needed no improvement.

Every year Abloh visits one of his architectural references and creates a project. He showed video clips and photos from a few of these during the talk, but said he is unsure if they will ever be released or if it even financially makes sense to do so. He explained that they are largely centered on race and the story the clothes tell to draw links between the current cultural landscape and important moments in design.

Lucrative or not, it’s not bad for an architect making his place in fashion, an industry where nearly everything has already been done.