Virgil Abloh, a 2003 University of Wisconsin alumnus who was just 41 at the time of his death, was a fashion designer who founded high-end streetwear brand Off-White. He was also the artistic director of Louis Vuitton’s menswear collection and even redesigned the exterior of musician Drake’s private plane to mimic the cover of Drake’s album, “Nothing Was The Same.”

Carter Higginbottom, a UW men’s basketball junior, was one of the athletes in the group that also included athletes from other Badgers sports. Abloh had a significant impact on this group of athletes and they wanted to make sure he was celebrated for everything he did.

As part of the UW’s celebration of Black History Month, UW men’s and women’s basketball teams wear special shooting jerseys designed by Abloh.

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“It was really cool to see how the university reacted,” Higginbottom said. “How they were there for us. They understood what this guy was doing, not just for the black community, but for the world as a whole. It was really important that we honor what he did. Then when Black History Month arrived to honor him in this way and show how influential he is and what he means to the black community.

In partnership with the Abloh family, the UW Black History Month Shirt is a reissue of Abloh’s design for UW’s 2015 “The Red Shirt” tradition – a shirt used to collect funds by the Alumni Association to help provide financial aid to current UW students.

The design features the word “Wisconsin” in curved capital letters on the front with a striking black “ribbon” across the letters. The traditional Off-White logo is on the back of the shirt.

There were originally three shirts designed when Abloh made them in 2015. One with ‘Wisconsin’ on the front and the UW patch on the back, another with ‘Wisconsin’ on the front but it looked like the words were falling and the a UW basketball player is wearing this month.

The reissue is exclusive to UW basketball teams as part of the athletic department’s celebration of Black History Month. The original jersey was short-sleeved, but the team jersey is long-sleeved. The shirts will not be available to the public and will have no commercial elements.

“We all understand what it means to wear Off-White clothing, especially for Black History Month,” Higginbottom said. “[My teammates] certainly saw the whole story behind it and what it meant and they were really proud to wear it too. We were all very excited to get a pretty much one-of-a-kind Virgil Abloh shooting shirt.

To help educate student-athletes about Abloh’s legacy, UW invited two people who worked with the designer to speak with the men’s and women’s basketball teams.

DJ Hines knew Abloh when they were both students at UW — Abloh DJed a few of Hines’ parties. He was on campus helping UW Alumni Association Director Tracy Williams with a different diversity and inclusion project when Williams expressed his need for help marketing Abloh’s design in 2015.

Hines was brought on board the project to serve as a liaison between UW and Abloh’s Off-White team. He helped organize Abloh’s visits to campus and organized events that Abloh attended.

Hines shared his role in the draft and spoke about Abloh with the Badgers basketball teams this season.

“I expressed the profound impact that Virgil continues to have on culture, design, fashion, music,” Hines said. “His reach went far beyond clothing. I wanted to help them understand the impact he had on a global level. The honor presented to them of being an installment of his legacy on the UW campus by wearing these T-shirts.

The other speaker was Faisal Abdu’Allah, a professor in the Department of Art History at UW. Abdu’Allah met Abloh in 2015 when the professor presented a limited edition printed version of his shirt design with the Off-White label on it.

Abdu’Allah obtained permission to mass-produce the image from Abloh, who then visited the printing studio. Abloh signed all the copies on the spot and even asked Abdu’Allah to teach him the art of engraving.

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“I explained to them that a lot of their knowledge of basketball comes through artistic knowledge,” Abdu’Allah said of meeting the players. “Understanding space, elevation, movement, visual acuity, all of those things come from artistic disposition. I told them, ‘The most important thing to learn about Virgil…is his investment in youth. His love for art and the next generation, because he always said, the next generation is on you.

Higginbottom said it was cool to learn more about the making of the shirt behind the scenes and to hear some personal stories about Abloh.

“Before I put it on, I was looking at it, you know, it was so special,” Higginbottom said. “I was truly honored that his family allowed us to reissue it and make it our shooting shirt and wear it for Black History Month. It was truly an honor just to watch it and then put it on…it’s Off-White, you feel swag when you put it on.