From founding Off-White to serving as Artistic Director at Louis Vuitton, Virgil Abloh’s influence continues to shape design, music, and culture even after his passing in 2021. Music — a constant thread in his creative life — inspired one of his final collaborations: a project with American audio icon McIntosh. Conceived in 2020 but delayed by the pandemic, the McIntosh x Virgil Abloh MA8950 Integrated Amplifier Concept has now been revealed.

Unveiled at Virgil Abloh: The Codes at the Grand Palais in Paris — opening on 30 September, the day that would have marked his 45th birthday — the piece reimagines the McIntosh MA8950 through Abloh’s distinctive lens. The amplifier replaces McIntosh’s signature black-and-silver aesthetic with a vivid orange finish — a colour Abloh viewed as a symbol of energy, visibility, and disruption. The McIntosh team worked closely to ensure his bold vision was realised in every detail, hand-building the concept with the same care and precision as their other products.

For Abloh, McIntosh represented more than high-end audio; its products were part of the creative atmosphere in his Louis Vuitton studio, shaping the soundscape of his work. While this one-off amplifier performs exactly like the standard MA8950, its true power lies in what it represents — a fusion of sound, design, and artistic legacy that continues to resonate, even in his absence.