Cool Water

Spring-water company Evian’s latest hire demonstrates the strength of streetwear’s influence.

Virgil Abloh, founder of streetwear label Off-White and men’s artistic director at Louis Vuitton, is entering another industry: drinking water. This week the fashion designer, DJ and all-round marketing genius was appointed as the creative adviser for sustainable innovation design at Evian, the spring-water company owned by French conglomerate Danone. On the face of it, hiring one of the most in-demand fashion names seems a bizarre – and expensive – move. Yet it speaks to the immense influence that streetwear aficionados (of which Abloh is king) hold over younger consumers. Evian is targeting millennials more aggressively and swapping its baby ads for campaigns featuring twenty-something influencers; hiring Abloh is a natural next step. He’s designed industrial products before so water bottles shouldn’t be a stretch. But what he’ll really bring the Evian brand is a certain “coolness” by association.